The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. says it has fulfiled its
pledge to achieve the mechanical completion of rehabilitation work on
Area 5 Plant of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC).
The PHRC rehabilitation project, which costs about $1.5bn, is an EPCIC
project that covers Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation,
and Commissioning phases (EPCIC).
For Area 5, the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation have all been completed.
Rehabilitation work has been ongoing at the Refinery for over two years and
the NNPC Ltd. had pledged to complete Phase One of the project
(mechanical completion and flare start-up) of Old Port Harcourt Refinery
(Area 5) by 31st December 2023.
Speaking during an inspection tour of the rehabilitation project, which also
coincided with the 15th Refineries’ Rehabilitation Steering Committee
Meeting, the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd., Mr. Mele Kyari, said
as of December 15, 2023, 84.4% of Area 5 Plant, a key component of the
Refinery, and 77.4% of the entire rehabilitation project had been completed.
“In our quest to ensure that this refinery is re-streamed to continue to deliver
value to Nigerians, we made a promise that we wil reach a mechanical
completion of phase one of the rehabilitation project by the end of
December and get the other plants running in 2024. Today, we have kept
those commitments,” Kyari stated.
Significant Milestone
The GCEO commended the NNPC Ltd. staff and the EPCIC contractors for
doing a great job in ensuring that the refinery achieved that significant
milestone.
In his remarks, the Chairman of NNPC Ltd. Board, Chief Pius Akinyelure
described the milestone as “historic”, stressing that the board was proud of
the staff and management of the refinery.
“We are just starting. We want to be at the highest level of production so that
we will keep the prices of petroeum prices in the country stabe in order to
give comfort to our people and generate more revenue for our country,” Akinyelure noted.
READ ALSO: Portharcourt Refinery Resumes Operations
Also speaking, the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources
(Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said the milestone was another landmark of
the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
He thanked Nigerians for their patience and the trust they have in NNPC
Ltd.’s ability to deliver on this huge project.
In his address, the Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe
Ekpo, said re-streaming the Refinery will herald a new dawn for the nation’s
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) industry, as LPG, also known as cooking gas,
is a major byeproduct of the Refinery.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of Tecnimont Nig. Ltd.,Fabio De
Cioppo, one of the EPC Contractors of the Rehabilitation Project, said his
company remains committed to fulfiling the terms of the contract.
The mechanical
completion signifies the closure of the Construction and Installation phases.
Also, the NNPC said, the milestone was achieved under an “excellent Health,
Safety andEnvironment (HSE) record, which stood at over 9.5 million
man hours with zero Loss Time Injury (LTI).”
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