The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited said it has completed the supply of 475,000 barrels of crude oil to the Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited.
The SPDC said this was in furtherance of the Federal Government’s commitment to increase domestic refining capacity and make petroleum products more readily available in the country.
A statement by Shell Nigeria’s Media Relations Manager, Abimbola Essien-Nelson, on Monday disclosed that the company, “through its Bonny Oil & Gas Terminal has completed the supply of over 475,000bbls of crude oil to the Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited.”
According to Essien-Nelson, BOGT resumed the supply last week after a prolonged outage of over five years, during which time the Port Harcourt refinery underwent rehabilitation and integrity activities on its supply pipeline from Bonny Oil & Gas Termina.
Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Dr Osagie Okunbor, had said, “Teams from BOGT and PHRC worked through intensive preparations, collaboration, and dedication to make the project successful.
“This is indeed a significant step in the nation’s renewed efforts to utilise key infrastructures to assure the steady supply of products from the refining company to the Nigerian market.”
Okunbor added, “Future supplies from BOGT would be guided by the demand for the product.”
Also, the Bonny Terminal Installation Manager, Osita Nnajiofor, was quoted as saying that before implementing the supplies of the product to the refining company, the project teams first assured the integrity of pipelines relevant to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited subsidiaries, as well as the integrity and maintenance activities on the BOGT refinery export pumps, which had been shut down for an extended period.
Nnajiofor explained, “These actions resulted in the successful and safe completion of the refinery supply with no harm to people, environment, or equipment.
“The recommencement of crude oil supply from the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal to the Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited is a significant achievement and a game-changer for the industry and the country and will support the Federal Government’s aspiration of a steady supply of petroleum products to the downstream market and other associated benefits to the economy of the nation.”
Earlier the NNPCL has recently made known its decision to hand over the rehabilitated Port Harcourt refinery to private operators.