Workers of the Port Harcourt Refining Company are working assiduously to get it set for production as Oil marketers gear up to load refined petroleum products from the facility.

This action is on the directives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

According to the PUNCH, dealers confirmed on Friday that the PHRC was almost set to release products, projecting an N500/litre price for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, from the Port Harcourt refinery in Rivers State.

They also expressed optimism that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery would crash PMS price below N500/litre when it starts releasing products. Dangote refinery is projected to begin supplying petrol in May, as it currently supplies diesel to dealers.

On Thursday, it was reported that operators under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Rivers State Branch, told our correspondent that they visited the Port Harcourt refinery and discovered that the plant might start releasing refined petroleum products this month.

This, according to them, was because the plant had been largely completed, a development that was confirmed on Friday by the National Public Relations Officer, IPMAN, Chief Ukadike Chinedu.

According to the IPMAN PRO, marketers, particularly independent dealers, have started planning how to purchase and load products from the refinery, adding that operators are optimistic about a price reduction.

Asked whether the refinery has put a price on the PMS to expect from the plant, Ukadike replied, “Not yet. However, NNPC is still giving us PMS at N567.7/liter, so we want to believe that the Port Harcourt refinery should give us the product at N500/litre or less than that.”

Ukadike stated efforts were ongoing at the plant to begin the production of petrol and other refined products, as recently announced by the NNPC.

On March 15, 2024, it was reported that the Group Chief Executive Officer NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, stated that the Port Harcourt refinery would commence operations in about two weeks.

He also stated that mechanical works had been completed on the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, stressing that the Kaduna refinery would commence operations in December.