Committee Tasks FG On Port Harcourt Refinery Rehabilitation

The House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum
Resources (Downstream) has called on the Federal Government to accelerate the
rehabilitation of Port Harcourt Refinery.

Mr Dakuku Peterside, the committee Chairman, made the call
last week in Eleme when he led members on a facility tour of the refinery as
part of their oversight function.

Peterside, representing Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro Federal
Constituency, said the refinery had been starved of necessary funding to
operate optimally.

He said the committee would work with the government to fast
track the planned turn-around maintenance of the facility.

According to him the rehabilitation of the refinery would
boost production and guarantee access of Nigerians to petroleum products.

“We have two refineries here; one is almost obsolete, the
other one is functioning far below the installed capacity.

“This plant was installed with a maintenance schedule and
this schedule is not being followed; we have several challenges with the plant
and it is not producing as it ought to.

“We also noticed the fact that we can’t even have crude
supply because of the high rate of pipeline vandalism and that again
constitutes a major challenge.

“The impression I have is that we are riddled with a lot of
challenges that require serious attention and we are not getting that
attention,’’ the chairman said.

Peterside called on the management of the refinery to
provide, in three days, details of petroleum products refined and distributed
on daily basis within the last six months.

“The management should also avail us with details of the
funds received so far from 2012 budget, the level of implementation of
programmes, cost of projects and execution as captured in the 2012 budget.

The chairman, however, commended the management of the
refinery for its efforts in sustaining the facilities in spite of enormous
challenges it was facing.

Earlier, Mr Sylvester Idemudia, Acting Managing Director,
Port Harcourt Refining Company, said that in spite of challenges arising from
poor facilities, the company had made progress.

He said the company’s production for October stood at 3,
296, 000 million litres of petrol and 1, 868, 000 million litres of Dual
Purpose Kerosene.

Others, he said, were 3, 523, 000 litres of Automotive Gas
Oil, 4,573,000 litres of Fuel Oil and 50, 000 litres of Liquefied Petroleum
Gas.