Oil marketers are gearing up to load refined petroleum products from the Port Harcourt Refining Company, as workers at the facility race to get it set for production on the directives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
Dealers confirmed on Friday that the PHRC was almost set to start releasing products, projecting a N500/litre price for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, from the Port Harcourt refinery in Rivers State.
They also expressed optimism that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery would crash PMS price below N500/litre when it starts releasing products.
Dangote refinery is projected to start supplying petrol to the market in May, as it currently supplies diesel to dealers.
On Thursday, it was reported that operators under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Rivers State Branch, said they paid a visit to the Port Harcourt refinery and found out that the plant might start releasing refined petroleum products this month.
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This, according to them, was because the plant had been largely completed, a development that was confirmed on Friday by the National Public Relations Officer, IPMAN, Chief Ukadike Chinedu.
According to the IPMAN PRO, marketers, particularly independent dealers, have started making plans on how to purchase and load products from the refinery, adding that operators are optimistic about a price reduction from the refinery.
Asked whether the refinery has put a price on the PMS to expect from the plant, Ukadike replied, “Not yet. However, NNPC is still giving us PMS at N567.7/litre, so we want to believe that the Port Harcourt refinery should give us the product at N500/litre or less than that.”
Ukadike stated efforts were really ongoing at the plant to begin the production of petrol and other refined products, as recently announced by the NNPC.
On March 15, 2024, it was reported that the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, stated that the Port Harcourt refinery would commence operations in about two weeks.
He also stated that mechanical works had been completed on the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, stressing that the Kaduna refinery would commence operations in December.
The NNPC boss had disclosed this during a press briefing after he appeared before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee investigating the various Turn Around Maintenance projects of the country’s refineries.
Kyari had also told the Senate that over 450,000 barrels of oil had been stocked into the Port Harcourt refinery.
