Civil Society groups have tackled Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL) Ltd after announcing that Port Harcourt Refinery has commenced processing and supply of crude oil.
The groups under the aegis of Concerned Citizens of Nigeria and Coalition for Accountability and Transparency in Energy Sector (CATES) have warned NNPCL against what they perceive as ‘grand deception’ of Nigerians.
NNPCL had announced that trucks, on Tuesday, that it had commenced loading of petroleum products including Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol, Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) or diesel and Household Kerosene (HHK) or Kerosene and other product slates at its Port Harcourt refinery.
President Bola Tinubu, who was happy over the announcement of the commencement of crude oil processing at the Port Harcourt Refinery, directed the company to prioritise the timely reactivation of the second Port Harcourt refinery, as well as the Warri and Kaduna refineries.
This was as SaharaReporters on Tuesday night reported that the NNPCL came up with the idea of blending Crack C5 with the Naphtha from the primary units because the secondary units are not ready yet.
The online newspaper revealed that the NNPCL “is not trucking out Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, from the Port Harcourt Refinery as it claimed on Tuesday”, claiming a top source within the system revealed it.
Instead, it said the NNPCL bought “Cracked C5 petroleum resins” and blended it with other products including Naphtha to sell to the Nigerian public as though the refinery processed it.
“The plant is running but it is the old one of 60,000bpd capacity but you can’t get PMS from it except diesel. The part that produces PMS is yet to start.
“If you hear they are trucking out PMS from the depot, know it is a lie. They bought Crack C5 from Indorama company in Port Harcourt and blended it with Naphtha to sell to the public”, the source told Sahara Reporters.
Unexpectedly, the Spokesperson for the NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye swiftly confirmed the claims in a statement Tuesday night, saying, “blending is a standard practice in refineries globally”.
Soneye said, “It is worth noting that the refinery incorporates crack C5, a blending component from our sister company, Indorama Petrochemicals (formerly Eleme Petrochemicals), to produce gasoline that meets required specifications.
“Blending is a standard practice in refineries globally, as no single unit can produce gasoline that fully complies with any country’s standards without such processes. Additionally, we have made substantial progress on the new Port Harcourt Refinery, which will begin operations soon without prior announcements.”
Group elbows NNPCL
However, at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, Concerned Citizens of Nigeria, faulted the claim by the NNPC that the Port Harcourt Refinery has commenced operation.
Alleging that the refinery has been converted into a blending plant, the group accused NNPC of hatchet plan to sell imported, substandard petrol to Nigerians as locally refined fuel.
Speaking through its National coordinator, Comrade Mahmud Abdul, the Group described the announcement of commencement of crude oil processing at the Port Harcourt refinery as a ruse, designed to deceive Nigerians.
Urging the Federal Government to investigate the matter and hold those found culpable to account, the Group said, “We are worried that NNPCL might have misled the country as it has yet to debunk a report it rather that bought ‘Cracked C5 petroleum resins’ and blended it with other products like Naphtha to sell to the Nigerian public as its own product.
“We invite you to note that this reported commencement of operations comes after shifts in dates on at least seven different occasions. NNPCL’s past ineptitude and unbridled corruption give us concerns that the so-called commencement of operations of the refinery has the markings of a fluke, a ruse designed to make Nigerians stop questioning the eternal deadlines that the organisation set.
“The Corporation has now made a bad situation worse by stage managing a resumption of production since it has now been established that NNPCL is not trucking out Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), better known as petrol, from its Port Harcourt Refinery.
“Instead, some videos of NNPCL branded trucks that were used to announce that the refinery has resumed operations and started trucking out PMS were mere movie productions to mislead Nigerians.
“The Concerned Citizens of Nigeria are aware that the supposed commencement was first flown as a kite by certain media platforms quoting unnamed sources, which was purely a false flag operation to test the response of Nigerians.
“The formal speech to the media by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPCL, Femi Soneye announcing the development was only made after the organisation’s top management concluded that there were limited reactions to their flown kite.
“Our analysis of this development advised us of two possibilities. The first is that the refinery would be stressed to run for a few weeks before the NNPCL and its Mele Kyari-led management saddle the country with a bill for further repairs. A failure to succumb to this blackmail will result in the facility again becoming moribund.
“A second possibility is that NNPCL has not repaired or restored the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) Limited to its heydays. This means that the refinery has been technically downgraded and retooled into a blending plant.
“Recall that Nigerians had warned that NNPCL would turn Port Harcourt Refinery into a blending plant. Such concerns were expressed as recently as two months ago in September when some groups faulted the alleged move to convert the Port Harcourt refinery into a blending plant.
“The feeler from this latest development has confirmed that this is exactly what is happening, as petroleum products imported into Nigeria by Kyari would now be sold to Nigerians as locally refined fuel.
“A true test of whether NNPCL will release petrol from the Port Harcourt Refinery into the market would be the pricing. Mele Kyari’s NNPCL plans to sustain the current price band for petrol since that is the only way they can remain profitable from passing off imported substandard petrol as refined in Port Harcourt.”
Another warns Kyari, others not to mislead Tinubu, Nigerians
Another Civil Society Organisation, Coalition for Accountability and Transparency in Energy Sector (CATES), said what the NNPCL was glorifying was not a full-fledged refinery which Nigerians paid for.
In a statement on Wednesday by the Spokesperson of the Coalition, Dr. Linus Ikwur, the groups alluded that, despite the public outcry from stakeholders, organisations and individuals, warning against turning the Port Harcourt refinery to a blending plant, the NNPCL made good its intention and damned whatever would come out of it.
The coalition described the much celebrated Port Harcourt refinery as “what I ordered, vs what I got”, saying, the NNPCL did not mean well for the country and the citizenry, by converting the heritage refinery in Port Harcourt to a mere blending plant, despite receiving huge funds to operationalize it.
“The NNPCL was given money to turn Port Harcourt into a full fledged refinery. But now they want to turn the place into a blending plant, despite the public outcry on the dangers of having a blending plant in the region that is already suffering environmental degredation.
“Nigerians paid for a refinery and not a blending plant. This is a clear case of what I ordered vs what I got.
“There’s a need for great accountability, transparency and probity in ensuring that the refineries operate at 100% capacity and not as a blending plant”, the statement said.
Speaking further, the Coalition expressed great disappointment with the announcement of NNPCL, confirming that the refinery was to serve as a blending plant, which it described as a global practise; warning that the agency should cease the deception forthwith.
Dr. Ikwur said, “to us, it did not come as a surprise, because we saw it coming and we have raised enough alarms, so that it could be averted, but the authority kept calm, until the NNPCL perfected its plan to convert our heritage refinery into a blending plant. But we were highly disappointed, that the NNPCL misled Nigerians, including President Bola Tinubu into believing that the Port Harcourt refinery had come back to live.
“It took the great effort of the the media, Sahara Reporters in particular, to confirm our claims that Nigerians were indeed celebrating a blending plant, and not a refinery. Nigerians are too wise for that grand deception and Mr. President should not fall for that kind of cheap attempt to score political goals by the NNPCL.
“Mele Kyari and his cohorts should stop misleading the President. They should rather come out and explain how the over N17 trillion expended on our local refineries went and why is it that none of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries is working, after receiving such a humongous funding.”
