The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Tuesday signed a $1.5 billion contract with Maire Tecnimont, an Italian firm, for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
The signing was done by the Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refinery, Ahmed Dikko, and the Vice President of Tecnimont, Sub-Saharan Africa, Davide Pellizola, at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.
The contract, which had attracted widespread criticism, was approved last month by the Federal Executive Council.
The rehabilitation is expected to be executed in three phases of 18, 24 and 44 months, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, said in March.
At the signing, Maire Tecnimont’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Pierroberto Folgiero, said: “With this great result we confirm the soundness of our business strategy on geography diversification, as one of its key elements is to grow and assist our clients in their revamping initiatives, leveraging on our technological knowhow to ensure more efficient and environmentally better performing processes and products.
“We are eager to keep on supporting a leading player in the area such as NNPC to develop Africa’s downstream sector.”
