It appears that the Port Harcourt Refining Company, in Rivers State, has again failed to commence operations after about six postponements.

Promises made to Nigerians by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC Ltd) about the refinery have continued to witness multiple failures, The Punch reports.

Recall that since December 2023, the NNPC Ltd, which is in charge of all the government refineries, has given Nigerians different dates, assuring citizens that the refinery would begin the sale of refined products soon.

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In July, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, made it clear that the refinery would commence production in early August.

Similarly, Kyari had told the world in 2019 that the NNPC Ltd would deliver all Nigeria’s four refineries before the expiration of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.

While appearing before the senate recently in July, Kyari declared, “I can confirm to you, Mr Chairman, that by the end of the year, this country will be a net exporter of petroleum products.

“Specific to NNPC refineries, we have spoken to a number of your committees, and it is impossible to have the Kaduna Refinery come into operation before December, it will get to December, both Warri and Kaduna, but that of Port Harcourt will commence production early August this year.”

However, as August nears midpoint, the refinery has yet to commence operations, creating concerns that this might be another failed promise from NNPC Ltd.

The Punch cites sources at the NNPC Ltd as claiming to be on course.

Recall that the 210,000 barrels per day refinery was said to have reached what the NNPC called mechanical completion of rehabilitation work in December.

This saw the NNPC Ltd assert that the facility would start refining 60,000 barrels of crude oil daily after last year’s Christmas break.

However, in January, Kyari said the refinery was being tested and would be ready by the end of January.

During the second month of the year, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited completed the supply of 475,000 barrels of crude oil to the Port Harcourt refinery, raising the expectations of marketers that production was set to commence.

This came a few weeks after the NNPC Ltd revealed in January that it was seeking to engage reputable and credible operations and maintenance companies to run the Port Harcourt refinery.

However, the NNPC Ltd is yet to disclose whether or not it had secured bidders to run the refinery.

In mid-March, Kyari said the Port Harcourt refinery would commence operations in two weeks, April.

“We are serving this country with honour and dignity. And we will make sure that the promises we make on the rehabilitation of these refineries will take place,” Kyari stated after he appeared before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee investigating the various turnaround maintenance projects of the country’s refineries.

Probably being conscious that the constant failures of promises was beginning to impact credibility, the NNPC Ltd got a stakeholder to speak on the date next.

This was seen when the April deadline elapsed, and the independent petroleum marketers assured that the facility would begin production by the end of July.

However, in May, the onus of managing stakeholder expectation then shifted to the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye.

Soneye hinged the delays on regulatory approvals from international bodies according to The Punch.

“We have said that the mechanical completion has been done and every other thing is done. There is crude oil and all the pipes are working; we are only waiting for regulatory approvals. As I said, some of our materials and the things we use have to do with nuclear, and we need the nuclear authorities to give us approval to use all those things at the site.

“And some of these approvals come from bodies outside of Nigeria. Until they give us those approvals, we can’t begin operations. We are ready to go but if something happens without it, which would be another issue. Everything has been completed in terms of our work, and once we get those approvals, it will start operations,” Soneye asserted.

Many Nigerians have expressed disappointment that the local refineries have remained moribund for years, which has led to dependence on imported fuel, which is gulping up to N2tn monthly.

Recall that the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, pointed out that $4bn had been spent by the Federal Government in an attempt to revive Nigeria’s refineries.