NNPC ties refinery rehabilitation to profitability and equity participation
NNPC chief executive Bayo Ojulari says the company will not pursue further rehabilitation of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries without a credible route to profitable operations. He says prospective technical partners must share the facilities’ commercial risk, after earlier arrangements were funded without contractors having a stake in performance.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited says it will not undertake further rehabilitation of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries unless there is a clear route to profitable operations, its Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, said on Tuesday. Ojulari made the statement in Abuja during a media session held to present NNPC’s 2025 audited financial results, achievements and strategic direction. He said the company would work only with technical equity partners willing to hold a stake in the performance of the facilities.
Nigeria’s refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna have received substantial rehabilitation and maintenance spending over the years, but have not sustained commercial production and profitability, according to the source material. Ojulari said previous arrangements created weak incentives because contractors were paid for rehabilitation, financing, operations and maintenance without being directly exposed to the commercial results. NNPC, he added, had also stopped using crude oil to fund arrangements that did not produce positive commercial outcomes.
He said prospective partners had completed more than three months of intrusive on-site due diligence, involving more than 33 senior engineers, and that the assessment was being concluded. NNPC’s objective, he said, was to create facilities that were self-sustaining, profitable and technologically viable. Ojulari warned that some interests wanted to acquire the refineries as scrap, without identifying them.
He said NNPC had considered more than 50 possibilities before narrowing its search to about 20, with prospective Chinese partners emerging as the only candidates so far that aligned with the company’s strategy and were prepared to commit their own stake. He said the due diligence indicated that earlier quick-fix plans could leave the refineries five to 10 years behind current technology. NNPC has not yet signed a final agreement with the prospective partners.
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