Port Harcourt Refinery Continues D!esel Supply Despite Shutdown, NMDPRA Reports

The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) is still supplying an average of 349,000 litres of diesel daily, even though the facility remains shut, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) disclosed in its latest data. According to the regulatory agency, while the refinery has been under shutdown since May 24, 2025, following directives from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), diesel produced prior to the halt is still being evacuated to the market.

The NMDPRA emphasized that no production activities are currently taking place at the refinery, which has been in shutdown mode for maintenance for over seven months. “No production activities as the Port Harcourt refinery remained in shutdown mode. However, evacuation of AGO produced while the refinery was operational before 24th May 2025 continued at an average of 0.349 million litres/day,” the agency stated.

The shutdown comes after the refinery had been declared operational in November 2024 following extensive rehabilitation. At the time, the NNPC reported that the 60,000-barrel-capacity refinery was functioning at 70 per cent of its installed capacity, producing diesel and low-pour fuel oil as primary outputs. Planned outputs also included gasoline, kerosene, and premium motor spirit, with a target of 200 trucks of petrol released into the Nigerian market daily.

Despite these projections, the refinery has not resumed operations, and concerns over operational losses persist. NNPC’s new Group Chief Executive, Bayo Ojulari, previously revealed that the refinery was incurring monthly losses of $300–500 million before the shutdown, processing less than 40 per cent of crude input effectively. The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to privatize state-owned refineries by the first quarter of 2026 to improve efficiency and reduce fiscal burdens.

Ojulari, however, affirmed that the ongoing technical and commercial review aims to reposition the refineries as sustainable and revenue-generating assets capable of meeting domestic fuel demand while adhering to international standards.