The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. has dismissed the claims made by Timothy Mgbere, a self-proclaimed “community person,” who alleged that the recent truck-out of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the Port Harcourt Refinery was fabricated and that the refinery was not operating.
This came days after Mgbere, in a popular television program, claimed that the Port Harcourt Refinery was not processing PMS and that the truck-out of fuel was merely staged, accusing the NNPC of succumbing to pressure to deceive gullible citizens.
Addressing Mgbere’s claim, the agency’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, in a statement made available to newsmen on Friday, countered the allegation as a “Display of Ignorance”.
Soneye explained that the Port Harcourt Refinery has been fully integrated, with the Old and New Port Harcourt Refineries, as both share a single terminal for product load-out, including Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
He also clarified that the claims about separate loading gantries for the two refineries were inaccurate, as both now share utilities such as power and storage tanks.
Refuting further allegations, Soneye added that the refinery was producing 1.4 million barrels per day, emphasizing that the actual nameplate capacity of the refinery is 60,000 barrels per day, with current production at 90% throughput.
In light of these clarifications, the Chief Officer urged the public to disregard Mgbere’s claims, labeling them as mischief and misinformation designed to mislead and confuse the public.
The statement reads in part, “The attention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has been drawn to a video clip of one Timothy Mgbere, a self-acclaimed “community person” who alleged that the much-publicized restreaming of the Port Harcourt and truck-out of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) which held earlier in the week were all false”
“We would have not bothered to reply to him, considering that all his assertions were a crass display of ignorance which is consistent with his claim of being a ‘community person’ who does not necessarily have any knowledge about the workings of the Port Harcourt Refinery. But the need to set the records straight and not mislead the public has constrained us to clarify this”
“The same person who claimed that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery has its separate loading gantry from that of the New Port Harcourt Refinery further went on to contradict himself by saying that the PMS that was loaded out from the supposed loading gantry of the New Port Harcourt Refinery was “old stock” from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery. So, how did the purported “old stock” move from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery to the loading gantry of the New Port Harcourt Refinery?”
“Going by the flawed argument of the so-called ‘community person’, “old PMS stock” from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery can be moved to the loading gantry of the New Port-Harcourt Refinery for a show, but newly produced PMS from the Old Port-Harcourt Refinery can only be loaded at its dedicated gantry. This is nothing but ignorance on full display”.
