•Says only insignificant PMS output can be produced from much-awaited facility

•Reveals as MD of Kaduna, PH refineries only 50% of operations budget was released

In a revealing engagement, a former Group Executive Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd., (NNPC), Alex Ogedengbe, yesterday, urged Nigerians to tone down their expectations of the upcoming Port Harcourt refinery.

Stressing that the refinery from all indications would not work this month, the ex-managing director of both the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries, maintained that if at all it comes on-stream, the facility would not produce more than 25 per cent of petrol per barrel of crude oil.

Despite doubts expressed by Nigerians, the NNPC and the ministry of petroleum had said the 60,000 bpd part of the 210,000 bpd refinery would come online this December.

A few days ago, the NNPC released an update on the Port Harcourt refinery, where its current Managing Director, Ibrahim Onoja, had maintained that it would be ready this month.

However, Ogedengbe, who spoke on Channels Television, insisted that even from the information from the video update, it was not possible that the plant would work this year.

He stated that the old refinery NNPC was focusing on fixing, had not worked for over 30 years.

“If what I heard from that short, nine-minute release by the MD of the refinery is anything to go by, at best they will have some kind of mechanical completion by the end of December, because he said they are 75 per cent done overall, but 98 per cent done on procurement.

“But by end of December, at best, they will have mechanical completion, then they will do the testing of each equipment and systems.

“You test one equipment, you see how it fits with another one. Then you put everything together as a system. The system tests may take anything from two weeks to one month before you can start, in my opinion, based on what he said.

“I don’t think it can be done more than within two or three months. Now, what you will get there again, is something like the old refinery of 60 years ago with just new equipment. The capacity is still 60,000 barrels per day.

“The old refinery that is being repaired now, cannot produce more than 25 per cent maximum of crude oil. In other words, one barrel of crude will produce a maximum of 25 per cent of petrol. Whereas, the newer Port Harcourt refinery which is next door to the old one they are repairing can produce up to 48 per cent or 50 per cent on crude oil.

“So, overall, I don’t expect any appreciable contribution. That is even if all the systems work. I don’t have confidence in that right now from what I’ve seen,” he stated.

He said in October, during an engineers’ fellows’ meeting made up of at least three ex-managing directors of NNPC refineries, they were not allowed to visit as the scheduled event was cancelled in the last minute.

Ogedengbe, stated in the early 90s when he ran the facilities, there was no need to import products as all the refineries which were working at the time have now shut down.

As an engineer, he argued that if he was told that there was a proper plan to get the refineries from zero production to 100 per cent 10 years ago, he would believe, but noted that with the depth of damage that had happened, he doubted it.

Ogedengbe, wondered why the national oil company did not pick the newer 150,000 barrels per day facility which was built 30 years later and is beside the 60,000 bpd built almost 60 years ago.

“The old refinery, the one that was built in 1965, that’s about 58 years ago, has not operated since 1990 when the new refinery came on. So, it’s been shut down,” he disclosed.

Ogedengbe recalled that he was the project manager when the new refinery in Port Harcourt was built between 1985 to 1990, stressing that the new one is a more complex and modern facility and should have been fixed first.

“If you put one barrel of crude oil into the new one, 48 to 50 per cent of it will be petrol. The old refinery, if you put one barrel of crude oil into it, you only get maximum 23 to 24 per cent of petrol, which shows the complexity.

“The old refinery has just one conversion unit that can produce petrol. The new refinery has four different conversion units. That is the issue. Why is this old refinery being rehabilitated instead of the new one?

“The old refinery was built in 1965 with a different old technology. Now what is being done there? “ he asked, stressing that rather than rehabilitation as Nigerians have been told, it was actually being reconstructed.

While insisting that the refinery cannot work in December, he stated that testing each functional part of the refinery alone, if any part of it works, will take at least three months to achieve.

“There is no way we can justify the situation we have today. The refineries were built according to international standards. They were all tested for completion and they performed at the time they were completed.

“They ran according to the design for many years. However, being a government-owned facility, not a private one, they were not run commercially.

“What does that mean? Monies did not come in time for maintenance. Not enough money actually was given for maintenance and it was not a profitable project. So it was just declining slowly because of lack of maintenance until it crashed. All of them crashed by 2018,” he stressed.

He stated that although during his time money was usually budgeted for maintenance, but such monies were never fully released by the NNPC headquarters.

To augment this, he said the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries at the time he was the managing director, went out of its way to begin the production of tins and drums to survive.

“Every month, we will receive between 50 and 60 per cent of our budget. We are supposed to pick up the rest somehow. You have to be imaginative.

“ When I was in Kaduna refinery for instance, it was the only refinery that had a tin and drum manufacturing plant, which is not typically a refinery thing, but we had that plan because we were producing kerosene and we were selling in tins.

“So I was selling ordinary tins and drums to people who were buying them for water and other uses to augment the budget for the refinery operations,” he said.

He added that he was surprised that a 58-year-old refinery will be picked over the one that was built 30 years later, stressing that the guess is that the NNPC wanted to do a quick fix “politically”.

He noted that it was the reason the original contractor of the newer Port Harcourt refinery refused to participate in the current rehabilitation process. “They did not think that was the right way to go,” he maintained.

On why monies were not fully released for maintenance during his days as head of the refineries, Ogedengbe stated that the question should be directed at the corporate headquarters of the NNPC at the time which controlled the budget.

He stated that as the refineries’ managing director, he only handed the products to the products marketing arm of the NNPC, which would sell them while the revenues were sent to the headquarters.

“In 1990, we generated products at about an average of 95 per cent throughput in refineries in Port Harcourt combined, old or new”, he stated, adding that at the time there was no fuel scarcity, but that Nigeria even had some for export.

“They awarded a contract of $1.5 billion three years ago or two and a half years ago. So, the first person when you are in doubt, is to ask the contractor to speak. Let us see the report of the contractors. We haven’t seen that,” he lamented.

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/12/06/ex-nnpc-ed-doubts-much-awaited-ph-refinery-will-work-this-december?amp=1

No refinery will work in Nigeria, even in December 2035.

hello can somebody please summarize the write up for we are are tired of reading meaning less post

This man is part of people that destroyed our refineries. He was MD of two national refineries and they collapsed.
Now government is fixing one, he is not happy.
God over them.

Can these fat crooks shut their hole ffs!. You diverted 20trillion of turn around maintanance into your pockets, now with the guts to spew crap because your ass is not languishing in jail. No idiot should come out to colour public minds against our expectations.

Zonefree:
No refinery will work in Nigeria, even in December 2035.

Says an ipob.

Somebody that is supposed to be in Prison. What did you do while you idiot were ED in the organization? Ogun kill your Mama

Sangoamadioha1:
This man is part of people that destroyed our refineries. He was MD of two national refineries and they collapsed.
Now government is fixing one, he is not happy.
God over them.

femisplash:
Can these fat crooks shut their hole ffs!. You diverted 20trillion of turn around maintanance into your pockets, now with the guts to spew crap because your ass is not languishing in jail. No idiot should come out to colour public minds against our expectations.

WorldRichest:
Somebody that is supposed to be in Prison. What did you do while you idiot were ED in the organization? Ogun kill your Mama

Did you zombies read his submissions or you just want to zombiefy as usual 🧟‍♂️ 🧟‍♂️ 🧟‍♂️

Why will govt be fixing a 58 years old refinery when there's one much younger, bigger and better just nearby that can be fixed?

Obasanjo has told you people times without numbers that government has no business doing business and has told you this thing won't work but una no dey hear.

Is only idiots that we think that Tinubu know more than OBJ.... OBJ said Port Harcourt Refinery Will not Work, nobody bother to ask him why he said that and what's the reason behind it?


Nigeria is still control by the westerners.


Revolution is the only way from this slavery.

Virtually the leaders to the citizens are not serious in this country! It's only an unserious fellow like the government that would believe the refinery would work by December.

APC and self deceit

December that has finished 😁😁😁😁 , Nigerians will get wise this time

Dangote nko?

femisplash:
Can these fat crooks shut their hole ffs!. You diverted 20trillion of turn around maintanance into your pockets, now with the guts to spew crap because your ass is not languishing in jail. No idiot should come out to colour public minds against our expectations.

Your expectations can not air brush the reality on ground.....that refinery is nor producing this year and GOD KNOWS THAT!

Hahahhahaha.... I talk am oo

We know it won't work. Too many unpatriotic Nigerians won't let it work. They continue to steal from fuel importation

You must be a daft cu...nt to think or believe the refinery will be operational this month.

Ah...

December don reach...

Breeze don blow...

We dey wait for .....

SMH

After paying subsidy, maybe our baba jagaban can do this...

Even the unschooled in business won't make all these errors. So it just shows it's all intentional.

Nigeria dey stranglehold not only for neck, dem hold am for blockus too... Smh

Who no know before?

These things aren’t rocket science. The problem is that our leaders are not ready to make things work in this country.

/
Sebi they talk say Obasanjo no be engineer.

8 years later in 2031, the refineries won't work.

How old will you be then? Wasted life. Right?

/

From Obasanjo to Ex NNPC boss

We now know Enemies of Nigerian progress

The cabal knows what they stand to lose once fuel importation is stopped so they're doing everything in their power to keep the refineries nonfunctional for as long as possible. Until strict targets are set and arrests are made, this rollercoaster will not end. Imagine knowing that you stand to lose your job if you don't get desired results or you will get arrested if you don't give account of funds at your disposal, you will sit-up!

If only Tinubu can just achieve putting an end to fuel importation or reducing it to the barest minimum, posterity will always remember him but just like Buhari, he has allowed the cabals to shut him up.

Chaiii

Ok

I saw the interview on channels. I must say after watching it, I came to the conclusion we have just wasted another $1.5b

2 things in particular he said.
1: We are only going to get 25% PMS yield per barrel whereas the current standard is closer to 50%
2: the grade of PMS from that old refinery is inferior and can only be improved with the addition of lead. Leaded petrol has been banned. We may just have spent $1.5b to fix a refinery to produce petrol we cannot use or that will damage modern engines.