The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has denied categorically the claims from media reports that the newly refurbished Port Harcourt refinery has shut down.
The National oil company denied such claim in a press release issued by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, on Saturday.
Soneye said the claim was not true and urged Nigerians to not believe it. He made emphasis that the Port-Harcourt Refinery is fully operational.
In the statement from the Chief Corporate Communications Officer "The attention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has been drawn to reports in a section of the media alleging that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery which was re-streamed two months ago has been shut down".
“We wish to clarify that such reports are totally false as the refinery is fully operational as verified a few days ago by former Group Managing Directors of NNPC.”
He noted that preparation for the day’s loading operation is currently ongoing, and added that claims of the shutdown are “figments of the imagination of those who want to create artificial scarcity and rip-off Nigerians.”