Port Harcourt Refinery Shuts Down for Repairs

Nigeria's main oil company, NNPC, is closing the Port Harcourt refinery for maintenance work. The refinery just started working again last year after being broken for many years.

NNPC didn't say how long the shutdown will last. They are also doing a check to make sure the refinery can keep working well in the future.

The company said they are working with government agencies to make sure the maintenance is done properly. They want to keep providing energy for Nigeria.

In March, there was a small problem at the refinery, but it kept making fuel products. Last year, Shell started sending oil to the refinery again after five years of no supply.

The refinery can process 210,000 barrels of oil per day using two plants. One was built in 1965 and the other in 1989. NNPC spent $1.5 billion to fix the refinery starting in 2019.

By November 2024, the refinery was working at 70% capacity. NNPC wants to get it up to 90%.

A Nigerian agency recently bought part of a project to build a new 100,000-barrel refinery next to the existing one.