The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has kicked off construction work in the Port Harcourt Refinery rehabilitation project with a firm commitment not to fail Nigerians. The rehabilitation is a $1.5billion project signed by the NNPC and Italy’s Maire Technimont.

Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, explained that the agreement was between PHRC and Tecnimont SPA. He added that the contract was for the provision of engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning services for the refinery rehabilitation project.

Under the contract, Maire Tecnimont subsidiary Tecnimont will undertake EPC activities for a full rehabilitation work to restore at least 90% of the Port Harcourt refinery complex’s nameplate capacity. On Thursday, Mele Kyari, NNPC group managing director, and officials of Tecnimont SPA attended a kick off meeting on the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC).

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The refinery has the capacity to process 210,000 barrels of crude per day. The contract is expected to run in three phases of 18 months, 24 months and 44 months respectively and funded by the NNPC, budgetary provisions, IGR and the AfreximBank.

Speaking at the event, Kyari said: “We shall from time to time visit to see the progress of work outside, and sooner than later we shall come on to commission the work. We will support all that is necessary to be done to expedite the rehabilitation, we are ready to support your contract to secure the necessary approvals internally within Nigeria.”

He noted that the federal government will support the contractor in ensuring prompt completion of the project. He urged officials of Tecnimont SPA to ensure that the project is delivered at the scheduled time to help boost the country’s local refining capacity.