The reactivation of the Port Harcourt refinery on Tuesday marks a significant turning point for Nigeria’s downstream oil sector, after years of stalled attempts. With its return, the refinery is set to rival the already operational Dangote refinery in contributing to Nigeria’s aim of becoming a petrol-exporting nation, writes LAOLU AFOLABI
In an unprecedented announcement, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited announced on Tuesday morning that the previously moribund Port Harcourt Refinery was now operational and would begin daily product loading for marketers.
NNPCL confirmed that the previously idle refinery, located in the Alesa Eleme refinery complex, about 25 kilometres east of Port Harcourt, had been successfully revitalised and was loading petroleum products for distribution to marketers.
The announcement of a significant milestone in Nigeria’s efforts to enhance domestic refining capacity caught many unawares….