(Ecofin Agency) - On May 30, the upper chamber of the Nigerian parliament voted against the provision of a concession agreement to Agip, subsidiary of Italian oil major Eni, to rehabilitate, operate and maintain Port Harcourt refinery, saying the deal lacks transparency.

The motion which was brought by Senator Sabo Mohammed was titled “Non-transparent transaction relating to the planned concession of the Port Harcourt refinery to Agip and Oando and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources”. Oando, it should be recalled, had said on May 15 that it was in talks with Eni’s subsidiary to take part to the rehabilitation of the concerned refinery.

Commenting the new development which may prevent the project from going through, Oando spokesman, Ainoije Irune, said: “We are willing and available to provide as much clarification on the issue as the Senate requires”

On paper, the Port Harcourt oil refinery has a refining capacity of 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) but processes only 30% of that capacity due to neglect. Its rehabilitation and maintenance by Agip was announced at the beginning of May by petroleum minister, Emmanuel Kachikwu, as he revealed plans by Eni to construct a new 150,000 bpd new refinery in Nigeria.