The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has officially declared that it will not sell the Port Harcourt Refining Company, ending widespread speculation about the future of one of Nigeria’s most critical oil assets.
Instead, the state-owned energy company reaffirmed its commitment to an extensive rehabilitation and upgrade of the facility, which is regarded as the flagship of Nigeria’s domestic refining infrastructure.
The announcement was made by Bayo Ojulari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, during a company-wide town hall meeting held at the NNPC Towers in Abuja. Ojulari’s remarks aimed to clarify the company’s strategic direction on the refinery, amidst growing concerns and public debates about its long-delayed revival and commercial viability.
In a statement issued following the meeting, NNPCL stated:
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has officially ruled out the sale of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, reaffirming its commitment to completing high-grade rehabilitation and retention of the plant.”
The company acknowledged past operational decisions that proved costly, noting:
“The ongoing review indicates that the earlier decision to operate the Port Harcourt refinery before full completion of its rehabilitation was ill-informed and subcommercial.”
According to the NNPCL, while progress has been recorded across the country’s key refineries—Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna—the current outlook demands deeper technical partnerships to fully upgrade the facilities, particularly at the Port Harcourt plant.
“Although progress is being made on all three, the emerging outlook calls for more advanced technical partnerships to complete and high-grade the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery,” the statement added.
The company concluded that selling the facility would not only derail rehabilitation efforts but also result in “further value erosion.”
