The approval of $1.5 billion and decision to award the contract for the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt Refinery to an Italian firm followed due diligence, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said.
Stakeholders had kicked against Wednesday approval of $1.5 billion for the repair work by the Federal Executive Council, insisting that the 210,000 barrels per day capacity refinery would remain a drainpipe in view of losses it continued to incur despite similar repairs in the past.
The stakeholders also questioned the sum earmarked for the project, describing it as ‘outrageously huge’, noting that $1.5 billion can build a new refinery with capacity higher than the Port Harcourt refinery.
However, the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari said there was high level of transparency in arriving at the sum, even as he noted its tender process which culminated in the selection of Tecnimont spA. of Milan, Italy for the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract, was open and competitive.
He said the rehabilitation project would involve comprehensive repairs of the plant with significant replacement of critical equipment and long lead items to ensure the integrity of the plant on the long term unlike routine Turn-Around Maintenance.
