The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said the April 2023 completion date for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery was doable, and the plant would produce 60,000 barrels of crude early next year.
Speaking on the state of repairs of the facility, which was projected to gulp $1.5bn, the minister expressed satisfaction at the level of work.
Sylva stated this while answering questions from newsmen shortly after a tour of the Port Harcourt Refining Company’ in Eleme, Rivers State, on Tuesday.
He said, “This project kicked off second quarter last year and where they are now is quite impressive. It is on schedule.
“The commitment is to deliver 60 000 barrels per day from this refinery by the first quarter of next year, and, of course, we are quite happy.
The minister also vowed that the Federal Government would end all forms of illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta, saying such criminal activities must not be legalized.
Sylva said the modular refinery program of the Federal Government was on course and urged people to take advantage of the program.
He, however, said modular refinery should be separated from the illegal oil refining in the Niger Delta, resulting in the soot pandemic in Port Harcourt and its environs.
He said The President had inaugurated a modular refinery in Imo State last year, adding that similar projects were ongoing in other parts of the country, including Rivers State.
Sylva said, “When people begin to equate modular refinery with the criminality, I think they don’t go together.
“The criminality should be taken on. What is going on in Port Harcourt and some of these areas causing problems is criminal activity, and we cannot legalize that criminal activity.
“We must stop that activity by law enforcement, and that has started. The program of starting a modular refinery had always been on.
