Italy’s Tecnimont Begins Repair of PH Refinery *First phase of repair to restore 60,000bd output in six months

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Thursday disclosed
that it has resumed repair of its 210,000 barrels per day (bd) Port
Harcourt refinery in Rivers State, using Milan-based Maire Tecnimont
S.p.A.

A statement from the corporation explained that the repair work would
be done in phases, adding that the first phase of the rehabilitation
will see it recover its production capacity up to 60,000bd within six
months, starting from the end of March 2019.

It stated that the new development was part of its plan to ensure that
Nigeria achieves local sufficiency in refined petroleum products.

While NNPC had only recently announced that its efforts to get private
finance to repair the refinery as well as two others in Kaduna and
Warri failed on grounds of disagreement over commercial terms, the
statement said the renewed revamp exercise was flagged off by  its
Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, at the premises of the
refinery.
The statement issued by NNPC’s Group General Manager, Public Affairs,
Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, the statement said that the revamp exercise came
about 19 years after the last Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) exercise
was done on the refinery built in 1965 and upgraded 1989.

It added that the revamp would be done by Maire Tecnimont S.p.A, in
collaboration with its Nigerian affiliate, Tecnimont Nigeria, but
didn’t disclose what it would cost the corporation in terms of
financial commitment.

Also, the statement noted that Maire Tecnimont S.p.A is listed on
Milan Stock Exchange with interest in international engineering and
construction, technology and licensing, as well as energy business
development. It explained that the Tecnimont group had operations in
40 different countries, numbering about 50 operative companies with a
workforce of about 5,500 employees.

Quoting Baru, the statement explained that at the end of the phase one
of the repair, the refinery should be able to reach 60 per cent
capacity utilisation.

The NNPC, it added, was engaging Eni/NAOC (Nigeria Agip Oil Company)
as technical advisor to support the rehabilitation of the refinery,
and would leverage Eni’s extensive refinery supply chain network and
warehouses to procure critical materials for the programme.

According to the statement, the first phase of the rehabilitation
contract would run for six months, and will involve detailed integrity
check and equipment inspection of the refinery beginning from the end
of March, 2019.

“The integrity test comes as a forerunner to the second phase of the
rehabilitation project which entails a comprehensive revamp of the
complex aimed at restoring the refinery to a minimum of 90 per cent
capacity utilisation.

“Subject to the successful completion of the integrity checks, phase
two of the project would be executed on an Engineering Procurement
Construction basis by Tecnimont in collaboration with the original
builders of the plant, JGC of Japan,” the statement said.

It quoted Antonio Vella, Chief Officer, Upstream of Eni, to have said
on behalf of the contractors that all the companies involved would
deploy all available modern resources to ensure effective upgrade of
the plant.

Vella, reportedly stated that with the commitment of all parties
involved, it was certain that NNPC would be able to celebrate the
revamp of the refinery which would lead to its full capacity
utilisation on schedule and in full safety.

Also, the statement quoted Branch Chairman of the Petroleum and
Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), Mr. Odor Victor
Ayiri, and his peer at the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Workers (NUPENG), Mr. Dibiah Joseph, to have said on behalf of the
workers that they would support the revamp exercise.