(Ecofin Agency) - On May 15^th, the Nigerian oil firm Oando said it is in talks with Italian firm Eni to rehabilitate Nigeria’s Port Harcourt refinery.

In a public notice released on Monday, the Nigerian firm said if talks are successful, it will work with Agip, Eni’s subsidiary, to rehabilitate the plant so that it produces the volume it was designed to, knowingly 210,000 barrels per day (bpd). Currently the refinery produces only 30% of that capacity.

According to Oando, ongoing talks are expected to yield a final agreement by the end of July.

Plans for rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery fall in the framework of a recent announcement by petroleum minister, Emmanuel Kachikwu. The minister indeed said last week that Eni, through its Agip subsidiary, would build a new refinery with a capacity of 150,000 bpd. Under the agreement for this project, Eni is to repair, operate and insure maintenance of Port Harcourt plant.