P’Harcourt Refinery: Retailers to Begin Loading this Week

Petroleum marketers and retailers are set to commence lifting Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) directly from the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) this week.

The Publicity Secretary of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Joseph Obele, revealed that since the refinery began operations in November, it has only supplied fuel to retail outlets owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).

Obele clarified that while marketers currently purchase products from the NNPC, the fuel they acquire is still imported. He expressed concerns about pricing disparities, urging the NNPC to sell PMS to marketers in Port Harcourt at the same rate offered to those in Lagos, which is N899 per litre, instead of the higher N970 per litre charged in Port Harcourt.

“NNPC is still telling us to buy at a rate different from what they sell in Lagos because of logistics. Port Harcourt retail outlet owners are not comfortable with that. Since the Port Harcourt refinery will start servicing us this week, we request that the same rate NNPC is selling to Lagos marketers should apply to us here in Port Harcourt,”

Obele stated.

He further explained,

“The difference in pricing is significant—N899 per litre in Lagos compared to N970 in Port Harcourt. Since they will now sell directly to us from the refinery, we plead with the NNPC to address this disparity and sell at the same rate as in Lagos.”

Responding to whether marketers in Port Harcourt and its environs had started purchasing directly from the refinery, Obele noted that loading for independent marketers had not commenced but was expected to begin this week. He added that only trucks for NNPC retail outlets had been loaded so far.

Obele also confirmed that imported fuel stocks remain available in Lagos, explaining,

“The stocks in Lagos are imported, but Port Harcourt marketers are now anticipating direct access to products from the refinery.”

Following several delays, the NNPC announced in November that the old 60,000 barrels-per-day Port Harcourt refinery had resumed operations. It also assured the public that rehabilitation work at the new refinery, which has a 150,000 barrels-per-day capacity, would soon be completed.

The NNPC spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, confirmed that the refinery is currently producing naphtha, which is blended to produce petrol, signaling progress in local refining efforts.