Port Harcourt Refinery Technically Ready for Restart Within Week, Says PENGASSAN
The Port Harcourt Refinery’s old plant can resume operations within one week pending approval from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), according to the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Festus Osifo.
Speaking on Channels Television on Tuesday, Osifo stated the facility is approximately 90 percent rehabilitated and technically prepared for production. He clarified that the primary obstacle to restarting the refinery is not technical readiness but a corporate assessment of profitability.
“As of today, you can start the old Port Harcourt refinery, and it will function. You can put it on today, and it will work. However, NNPCL as a company is there to make a profit. So, if they want to start it today, within the next week, they can bring it back to life,” Osifo said.
He illustrated the financial dilemma, noting that processing crude oil valued at $5 million might yield refined products worth only $4.5 million, resulting in a direct loss on the crude input. Operating under current market conditions, therefore, could lead to sustained financial deficits for the refinery.
Despite the profitability concerns, Osifo emphasized that the refinery’s condition has significantly improved following the rehabilitation exercise. “If you value the refinery today, it will be much more valuable than the state it was in before the rehabilitation,” he added.
The comments follow stark criticism from NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, who recently described the reopening of Nigeria’s refineries as a “waste of resources.” This divergence in perspective highlights the tension between technical completion and economic viability in Nigeria’s downstream sector.
The Port Harcourt Refinery, a critical national asset, was shut down on May 24, 2025, for assessment and maintenance. This closure came just months after it had been rehabilitated and resumed operations in November 2024, underscoring the persistent challenges in achieving sustained local refining capacity.
Nigeria has long relied on imported refined petroleum products due to the dysfunction of its domestic refineries. The fate of the Port Harcourt facility, once operational, is closely watched for its potential to alleviate fuel import dependency, though its restart now hinges on a complex calculation of operational costs against global product prices. The immediate next step remains a formal decision from NNPCL management on whether to proceed with production.
