News
Again, NNPCL Postpones Port-Harcourt Refinery Kick-Off For Sixth Time
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has again failed to commence operations after about six postponements.
The refinery was originally scheduled for completion in 2019.
The refurbishment and upgrade of the Port Harcourt Refinery, located in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region, have faced significant setbacks over the years.
Political wrangling, funding challenges and technical difficulties have plagued the project, which is seen as crucial for Nigeria’s energy independence and economic stability.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had in July reaffirmed its preparedness to commence crude oil refining at the Port Harcourt refinery in early August.
This was revealed by the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, while addressing an emergency session at the National Assembly joint committee on finance.
Kyari explained that the Port Harcourt refinery would kick off production by early August this year, while that of Kaduna would commence by December 2024.
Kyari, who had earlier announced two weeks from March 2024 as the kick-off date for production from the Port Harcourt refinery, maintained that “he was not lying” as he reaffirmed the new August date.
However, promises made to Nigerians by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and NNPC about the refinery have continued to witness multiple failures.
As August nears midpoint, the refinery has yet to commence operations, creating concerns that this might be another failed promise from NNPC.
The NNPC spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, on Tuesday told PUNCH that the refinery was on course, even when the early August promise had expired.
“We are on course,” Soneye, said.
According to the report, Soneye did not reply to further questions, asking if he meant the refinery would still operate this month.
No fewer than 24 people were killed and more than 40 injured in a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, police and other officials told Reuters.
Pakistan is grappling with a surge in strikes by separatist ethnic militants in the south and Islamist militants in its northwest.
Inspector general of police for Balochistan, Mouzzam Jah Ansari, said 24 people have died from the blast so far.
The target was army personnel from the Infantry School,” he said, with many of the injured in critical condition.
“So far 44 injured people have been brought to civil hospital,” Dr. Wasim Baig, a hospital spokesman, told Reuters.
Senior superintendent of police operations, Muhammad Baloch, said the blast seemed to be a suicide bomb and that investigations were underway for more information.
“The blast took place inside the railway station when the Peshawar-bound express was about to leave for its destination,” Baloch said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast at Quetta’s main railway station, which is usually busy early in the day.
In August, at least 73 people were killed in Balochistan province after separatist militants attacked police stations, railway lines and highways.
The assaults in August were the most widespread in years by militants fighting a decades-long insurgency to win secession of the resource-rich southwestern province, home to major China-led projects such as a port and a gold and copper mine.
Operatives of the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have arrested two Chinese siblings: Wang Jiang and Wang Richard for allegedly making efforts to export some solid minerals without requisite permit.
While Jiang was arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport ,Enugu, the rest, including two Nigerians, Donatus Agupusi and Michael Benneth Agu, were arrested at the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the EFCC.
Their arrest followed an intelligence received by the Commission through the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN on November 3, 2024 involving Jiang who was intercepted at the hold baggage screening point, where unidentified suspicious stones believed to be solid minerals wrapped in three different pieces were discovered in his luggage.
Preliminary investigations into the matter revealed that Agupusi, owner of Great Wall Construction Limited, is the employer of the remaining suspects. Investigation also revealed that Jiang was attempting to travel out of the country with the solid minerals in order to carry out some tests on them in China.
Investigations further revealed that none of the four suspects had a permit to export the solid minerals to China.
The suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.
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