The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The minister said: “The Ministry of Petroleum Resources presented a memo on the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery for the sum of $1.5bn and it was approved by council today.
“So, we are happy to announce that the rehabilitation of the refinery will commence in three phases. The first phase is to be completed in 18 months, which will take the refinery to a production of 90 percent of its nameplate capacity.
“The second phase is to be completed in 24 months and all the final stages will be completed in 44 months and consultations are approved.
“And I believe that this is good news for Nigeria.”
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had reportedly held talks with investors to raise around $1 billion in a prepayment with trading firms to refurbish the refinery.
