‘PH Refinery Can Post N1.3trn Profit Yearly’

The Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Dr Bafred Enjugu,  says  the refinery can meet its target of  making  a profit of N1.3 trillion yearly.
Enjugu, who made the remark during a media workshop organised by the company in Port Harcourt on Wednesday  said the factors militating against achieving such  a feat at present were equipment and security.
He said that in spite of the challenges, the doggedness of the staff of the refinery had contributed to the achievements  of the company so far.
Enjugu said  the refinery made N12.6 billion operating margin in spite of very low supply of crude in 2014.
He attributed the feat to the crash in the price of crude oil  at the time, adding that a total volume of 188.9 billion barrels of petroleum product was produced.
The  figure, he said,  was arrived at after netting out the cost of crude, processing, processing chemicals, energy as well as  staff salaries and benefits.
Enjugu said that the company ran aground in 2015 due to  absence of  crude supply until July 15 when it received  approval to process but was cut off by equipment problem.
He said that the company incurred a loss of N2.25 billion due to the challenges, adding  that about N13 billion was made in 2016.
‘’Now at the end of 2016 which was a better year for us, we made something in the region of about N12 to N13 billion, we are yet to complete those figures.
‘’We made N2.95 billion in December only after netting out the overhead cost,’’ he said.
Enguju, however, said that the company would meet up with the projected N1.3 trillion profit for the nation once it started operating at 100 per cent  capacity.
‘’We have to take up the challenge to keep the skills; we will make sure we deliver on that; we have to get all of the N1.3 trillion and beyond.
‘’We are looking at N1.5 trillion but we have to upgrade facilities at the PHRC,’’ he said.
Enjugu  commended  the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) for signing a Memorandum of  Understanding with Eni SPA, an Italian company,  for the upgrade of   the refinery’s  equipment.
He said that he had confidence that Eni would assist the refinery to achieve 100 per cent of its target and surpass other competitors.
According him,  the modular refineries and Dangote’s refinery’s  posed a serious challenge to the nation’s refineries
He, however, said  that  the nation  had  high capacity to meet the consumers’ demand.
Enjugu  also said that the refinery had entered into partnership with some governments for the production of fuel from agricultural products.
He  further  said that the company had concluded plans to commence the production of aviation kerosene.