Following years of funding wastages on the 450,000 litres per day Port Harcourt Refinery by past governments, the new management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Wednesday indicated that it had opened discussions with a Chinese petrochemical firm and other potential investors as part of its strategic initiatives to revitalize the moribund refinery and others.
The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the company, Engr. Bayo Ojulari, who gave this during a forum titled “Securing Nigeria’s Energy Future” at the Nigeria International Energy Summit 2026, confirmed that the discussions would involve the sale of equity in the refineries to technically competent operators with proven capacity to run and sustain refinery operations.
In what could be termed as insight into the commercial and operational realities facing the NNPCL in its control of the refining operations of the four state=owned refineries over the past years, Ojulari outlined a board-approved strategy to end decades of losses, stressing that the company is not planning an outright sale of the plants but is prepared to reduce the government’s equity in them to secure a sustainable operating model.
He clarified: “So the current NNPC strategy, as approved by our board, is to focus on getting partners that have a track record of running refineries. We are not looking for contractors. We are not looking for Operations and Maintenance.
“We are looking for an entity that runs refineries. We are looking forward to them buying some of our shares. So when you say sell, we will not say we are selling the refineries.
“We will probably look at options where you can sell down some of our equity, so that they have a skin in the game. And with that, with the operational capacity, we will then cooperate with them. They lead the operation, and then we use that to develop, rebuild our own skills and support”, the company’s GCEO added.
According to him, the overriding goal of the latest strategy by the management of the company is to establish a self-financing, sustainable refinery for it to self-finance itself, for it to run like a business.
Citing experiences in other climes to justify the management’s new initiative, the industry expert maintained that everywhere in the world, refinery margins are not very high, hence there is no way NNPCL with the structure it has can run a profitable refinery.
Ojulari expatiated: “We need to bring in additional capacity to complement what we have to run those refineries. Incidentally, I’m just coming from a meeting with one of the potential investors, where we are looking at their plants. They are moving; they are going to the refinery tomorrow to inspect. And we also have a few other companies as well.”
He lamented that Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries, with two plants in Port Harcourt, one in Warri, and one in Kaduna, had for several decades been operating far below capacity despite multi billion dollars committed by past administrations for their turnaround around maintenance contracts and rehabilitation.
Ojulari pointed out that the refineries became a major issue of concern when he assumed office due to what he described as public anger over the refineries’ failed maintenance and wasted taxpayers moneey on them
He said: “Nigerians were angry. A lot of money had been spent, and expectations were very high. We were under extreme pressure. The first thing that became clear is that we were running at a monumental loss to Nigeria. We were just wasting money.
“At Port Harcourt Refinery, for example, we were producing mid-grade products. When you compare the value of what came out to what went in, it was destruction of value.
“There were political pressures to keep them running, but if we continued, it would have been value destruction for the next 30 years.The financiers get paid. The EPC contractors get paid and leave. Then, NNPC is left to run the refinery for decades without the capacity. O&M contracts only made it worse. Everyone was taking money from the system without any skin in the game”, Ojulari rued.
He commended the Dangote Petroleum Refinery for its stabilising role in the face of the worrisome situation in the downstream market of the petroleum industry, adding that “whether you love Dangote, you hate him, say whatever you want to say, Nigerians should thank God for Dangote.
“Thank God he’s a Nigerian. He’s not someone from another continent or another planet. Despite everything, that gave us an opportunity because we have a refinery that is working”, the NNPCL boss added.
He explained that though Dangote Refinery’s supply to the downstream market didn’t fully meet domestic fuel demand, its operations significantly reduced vulnerability in the supply chain.
To ensure sustained delivery of refined products to the downstream market, Ojulari disclosed that NNPCL had directly engaged with Dangote to chart a framework for cooperation in alignment with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2023.
He said: “Our strategy is to collaborate with the Dangote Refinery and maximise the value delivered to Nigerians. We had a meeting with Alhaji Dangote, explained our institutional responsibilities, and we agreed on the pathway towards deeper collaboration while maintaining our role as NNPC.”