Shell Nigeria has said on Friday February 9, 2024 that the company has resumed supply of crude oil from its Bonny export terminal to the state-owned refinery in Port Harcourt which is expected to start operations in the first quarter of this year, the company said on Friday as Reuters said.

According to report available to Reuters via its email and sent by Shell’s Bonny oil terminal manager Osita Nnajiofor.  He stated: “Future supplies from Bonny oil and gas terminal would be guided by the demand for the product.”

Also the Shell spokesperson Bamidele Odugbesan affirmed the above statement with Reuters by phone that the oil deliveries to the refinery were made this week. The recent supply of crude oil by Shell has now consolidated the readiness of the Port Harcourt Refinery to resume operations in line with projected plan of resumption

The Nigerian Port Harcourt Refinery was in December 2023 declared that the plant has achieved the mechanical completion of rehabilitation work on Area 5 of the Plant. Rehabilitation work has been ongoing at the Refinery for over two years and the nation’s oil firm NNPCL had pledged to complete Phase One of the project (mechanical completion and flare start-up) of Old Port Harcourt Refinery (Area 5) by 31st December 2023.

According to the report Shell did not specified if the resumption of crude oil supply is being transported through already existing pipeline infrastructure or by trucking now that the crude oil pipeline vandalism and theft have being the order of the day in the oil rich nation. Private securities Surveillance Company led by Tantita in collaboration with the country’s security bodies are presently curtailing the situation to boost the current crude oil output.