By Emeka Okafor
The Federal Government on Wednesday approved the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery in Rivers State at the cost of $1.5 billion.
The Port Harcourt Refinery, which is the largest in the country, will undergo rehabilitation in three phases.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, disclosed this at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) held virtually by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday.
Sylva, who spoke with State House Correspondents after the weekly virtual FEC meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, noted that the Port Harcourt refinery will deliver 90 per cent of its capacity at the completion of the exercise.
He stated the rehabilitation will be done in three phases of 18, 24 and 44 months.
Sylva, a former Bayelsa State governor, explained that the contract had been awarded to an Italian company, Technimount SPA, who are one of the best experts in refinery maintenance in the world.
He said the funding has three components from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), budgetary allocations provisions and Afreximbank.
The Minister also assured that local content is fully involved in the job.
“The Ministry of Petroleum Resources presented a memo on the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery for the sum of 1.5 billion, and that memo was $1.5 billion and it was approved by council today.
“So, we are happy to announce that the rehabilitation of productivity refinery will commence in three phases. The first phase is to be completed in 18 months, which will take the refinery to a production of 90 percent of its nameplate capacity.
“The second phase is to be completed in 24 months and all the final stage will be completed in 44 months and consultations are approved.
“And I believe that this is good news for Nigeria,” he said.
