The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and Italian engineering company, Tecnimont SpA, on Tuesday, signed the $1.5billion engineering procurement and construction, EPC contract for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery in Rivers state.
Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refinery Company, PHRC, Ahmed Dikko signed for the refinery, while Davide Pellizola, signed for the Tecnimont SpA as contractor for the project.
Heritage Times had reported that in March, the Federal Executive Council, FEC, approved the sum of $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the refinery.
The approval had generated reactions from Nigerians with Atedo Peterside, founder of Stanbic IBTC and Anap Foundation, urging the government to subject the approval of the amount to “an informed national debate”.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, had informed that the rehabilitation would be done in three phases of 18, 24 and 44 months.
Sylva noted that the funding has three components from the NNPC, Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, Afreximbank and budgetary provisions.
“The Ministry of Petroleum Resources presented a memo on the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery for the sum of 1.5 billion, and that memo was $1.5 billion and it was approved by council today,” he said.
