Port Harcourt refinery still supplying diesel despite shutdown — NMDPRA

The Port Harcourt Refining Company has been supplying diesel to the Nigerian market daily even though it has been shut down for maintenance, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has revealed.

According to data published by the regulatory agency, the refinery — which was taken offline by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) on May 24, 2025 — continued to distribute an average of 349,000 litres of automotive gas oil (diesel) each day as of November.

The authority clarified that the facility was not producing new fuel due to its shutdown status, but was evacuating diesel produced before the maintenance began into the domestic market.

The maintenance shutdown has now lasted more than seven months, and there is no clear timeline yet for when the refinery will resume full operations.

When the plant was shut down, it was expected to undergo a short maintenance period, but production has yet to restart.

The refinery had previously been declared operational in November 2024 after a long period of inactivity, with officials stating that it was producing several refined products, including diesel and gasoline.

However, those outputs ceased when the maintenance closure was imposed.

The continued evacuation of stored diesel highlights the ongoing supply role the Port Harcourt refinery plays even while offline, against the backdrop of broader challenges facing Nigeria’s state-owned refining sector.