The Port Harcourt Refining Company, a refinery under the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in Rivers State, has again failed to commence operations after about six postponements.
It was observed that promises made to Nigerians by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and NNPC about the refinery have continued to witness multiple failures.
PHRC is one of the three national refineries under the management of NNPC.
Meanwhile, the Senate has raised questions over the $1.5bn approved in 2021 for the renovation of the refinery.
The upper chamber lamented that it is “unfair and wrong to treat government businesses or public companies as an orphan while private businesses were flourishing and thriving.”
The Senate Leader and Chairman of the Senate ad-hoc Committee to investigate the alleged economic sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, Opeyemi Bamidele, raised the questions at a session with stakeholders in the industry in Abuja.
At the session, Bamidele expressed concerns over the dysfunctionality of the government-owned refineries despite investments to carry out turn-around maintenance.
