By Gabriel Ani
In a candid assessment of Nigeria’s oil refinery sector, prominent Nigerian economist Kelvin Emmanuel declared that the Port Harcourt refinery is effectively “dead on arrival” and incapable of resuscitation. Emmanuel shared his views during an interview with Channels Television on Monday, expressing doubt over the refinery’s potential to mitigate the soaring petrol prices in Nigeria.
When questioned about the possibility of state-owned refineries such as Port Harcourt easing the financial burden on Nigerians, Emmanuel was direct in his response. He emphasized that Port Harcourt, along with other government-owned refineries, is a “dead asset” and that continued investment in them may be futile.
“Government-owned refineries died on arrival,” Emmanuel asserted. “The government over the last 60 years has not proven to have the capacity to manage its refineries. They are dead and are not going to come back to life,” he continued, underscoring the failures of the Port Harcourt refinery, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), to meet its numerous promised deadlines.
Emmanuel further speculated that the government might consider converting the refinery into a blending plant to repurpose off-spec petrol, but he advised the state to “forget about it” as a functional refinery.
This latest commentary comes as the Port Harcourt refinery, with a capacity of 250,000 barrels per day, has struggled to meet the expectations of the Nigerian populace, who continue to grapple with skyrocketing fuel costs ranging between N1,060 and N1,200 per liter.
