Crass display of ignorance – NNPC Ltd reacts to claims of ‘community person’ on Port Harcourt Refinery

By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has described claims by one Timothy Mgbere on the newly revamped Port Harcourt Refinery as “crass display of ignorance.”

Igbere had in a video clip of his appearance on Arise Television claimed to be a member of community that is host to the refinery.

He had alleged during his appearance on the television alleged that the much-publicised restreaming of the Port Harcourt Refinery and truck-out of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) which held earlier in the week were all false.

But the NNPC Ltd, in a statement by its spokesperson described the claim by Igbere as crass display of ignorance which is consistent with his claim of being a ‘community person’.

The company also said Igbere does not have any knowledge about the workings of the refinery.

While faulting the claims of the so called community person, NNPC Ltd said, his claim that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery was only operating skeletally and was not processing PMS with his evidence that petrol truck-out was done at the gantry of the New Port Harcourt Refinery as against the gantry of the Old Port Harcourt Refinery.

“This betrays his scant knowledge of the operations of the refinery. The Old and New Port Harcourt Refineries have since been integrated with one single terminal for products load-out. They share common utilities like power and storage tanks. This means that storage tanks and loading gantry which he claimed belongs to the New Port-Harcourt Refinery can also receive products from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery.

“The same person who claimed that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery has its own separate loading gantry from that of the New Port Harcourt Refinery further went on to contradict himself by saying that the PMS that was loaded out from the supposed loading gantry of the New Port Harcourt Refinery was “old stock” from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery. So, how did the purported “old stock” move from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery to the loading gantry of the New Port Harcourt Refinery?

“Going by the flawed argument of the so-called ‘community person’, “old PMS stock” from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery can be moved to the loading gantry of the New Port-Harcourt Refinery for show, but newly produced PMS from the Old Port-Harcourt Refinery can only be loaded at its own dedicated gantry. This is nothing but ignorance on full display!

“There are a number of other wild claims made by the man, one of which was that the refinery was producing 1.4million barrels per day. The nameplate capacity of the refinery is 60,000barrels of oil per day. It is currently producing at 90 per cent throughput which translates to Straight-Run Gasoline (Naphtha) blended into 1.4million litres of PMS, aside other products like diesel and kerosene.

“We call on the general public to disregard the claims of the self-acclaimed ‘community person’ which are obviously borne out of sheer mischief and blatant display of ignorance,” Soneye concluded in the statement.