Shell Nigeria has started supply of crude oil to Nigeria’s Port-Harcourt refinery ahead of commencement of refining operations later this quarter.
Gatekeepers News reports that the spokesperson for the company Bamidele Odugbesan disclosed this in an interview with Reuters where he stated that deliveries were made to the company this week.
He stated, “Future supplies from Bonny oil and gas terminal would be guided by the demand for the product,”
In a separate statement, Shell’s Bonny oil terminal manager said a total said a total of 475,000 barrels of oil was delivered to the Port-Harcourt refinery around January.
Port Harcourt is one of four state-owned refineries the government is trying to revive to end the country’s reliance on fuel imports.
Since 2021, the Nigerian government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has engaged contractors to repair the four state-owned refineries across the country in a move to boost local refining capacity following the commissioning of the 650,000 bpd Dangote refinery.
In December, the NNPCL announced the completion of turnaround maintenance and mechanical testing of the phase 1 of the Port-Harcourt refinery. The repair works cost around $1.5 billion and was scheduled in phases.
The Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Agency (NUPRC) in January 2024, mandated oil companies operating in Nigeria to supply a total of 483,000 barrels of oil daily to local refineries across Nigeria.
One of the refineries slated to benefit is the newly repaired Port-Harcourt refinery which was slated to receive 75,000 barrels of oil daily.
