President Bola Tinubu says the Port Harcourt refinery will commence operations by December 2023.
Tinubu disclosed this on Wednesday night, according to a statement by Dele Alake, special adviser to the president on special duties, communications and strategy.
The president spoke at a meeting with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) led by Joe Ajaero, its president, and that of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Usifo.
He said production will begin after the ongoing rehabilitation contract between Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and Maire Tecnimont SpA is completed.
Tinubu pledged that he would continue to work for the best interest of Nigeria, encouraging the labour leaders to join forces with him to create a better and more prosperous country.
The Port Harcourt refinery is one of the country’s three oil refineries — located in Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna.
In 2021, the NNPC commenced the rehabilitation of the refinery after FEC approved the sum of $1.5 billion for the project.
Several timelines had been established in the past for when the refinery will be operational.
In September 2022, Timipre Sylva, former minister of state for petroleum resources, said the old Port Harcourt refinery will become functional by the end of last year.
In March 2023, Sylva said the plant would commence refining activities before the end of the second quarter of 2023.