Nigerians React as Port Harcourt Refinery Shuts Down Months after Resuming Operations

• The Port Harcourt Refinery has been shut down for planned maintenance just months after it was declared operational, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company
• The development has sparked outrage among Nigerians on social media, many of whom question whether the refinery ever truly resumed operations
• Despite spending billions on repairs, the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries continue to struggle, forcing the country to rely on fuel imports and the Dangote Refinery

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

The Port Harcourt Refining Company will be shut down for planned maintenance, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

The state-owned oil company said in a statement that the sustainability and maintenance assessment will start on Saturday, May 24.

In order to guarantee that the planned maintenance and sustainability assessment are completed effectively and openly, NNPC stated that it is collaborating with all pertinent parties, including the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

Nigerians react to Port Harcourt refinery shutdown

Nigerians are reacting to the development on X, as many claimed that they do not believe the refinery actually ever worked in the first place.

@Cikings

“Maintenance? A refinery that billions was spent on and didn’t produce a drop of fuel or any other petroleum product is shut down for maintenance.

“Somebody should be in jail by now. It's shameful”

@e_Iroulo

“The same Port Harcourt refinery, we were told that it has started working and producing fuel in large quantity, now the next news is, . It is being shutdown for maintenance, Nigeria trade mark is lies and other evil that follows.”

@HOgbili31801

“Another maintenance?after the previous billions expended on same maintenance?ahhhh...make u guys fear God na”

@MrTemu

“What are they maintaining in a refinery that's not working?”

@Gozilinkz

“Hope it won't be indefinite?”

@WOghenecho86512

“The propaganda have failed, they where are saying its working even with evidence that ots not working.”

@EnejeweSonnie

“Another lie don begin. The newly rehabilitated PH refinery which is not working is being shutdown for maintenance. How many lies are being told to cover one big lie.”

@FolakeVaughn

"It should shut down for good!!! And sold as scrap metal! It has already burned enough resources from Nigeria over the decades!"

PH, Warri refineries fail to deliver months after repair

Legit.ng reported that Nigerian fuel traders remarked that they were having trouble getting petrol from the state-owned Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, although these plants were declared ready six months earlier.

As a result, they remained dependent on imports and the privately owned $20 billion Dangote Refinery to meet supply needs, according to a report from Reuters.

While fuel shortages have long been a problem in Nigeria, the nation has spent more than N11.35 trillion ($25 billion) over the last ten years in an attempt to repair its three outdated, non-operational refineries.

Source: Legit.ng