NNPC rules out sale of Port Harcourt Refinery

Abdullateef Fowewe

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has categorically denied plans to sell the Port Harcourt Refining Company, reaffirming its commitment to completing a high-graded rehabilitation and retaining the strategic national asset, revealed a statement on Wednesday by the firm.

At a company-wide town hall meeting held Tuesday at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, Group Chief Executive Officer Bashir Bayo Ojulari addressed swirling speculation triggered by his recent comments at the 2025 OPEC Seminar in Vienna, where he hinted that “all options are on the table.”

Clarifying the company’s stance, Ojulari said, “This is not a shift in policy. Our detailed technical and financial reviews of Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri refineries have shown that the earlier decision to operate Port Harcourt before full rehabilitation was ill-informed and commercial unviable.”

He added, “Given the current outlook, selling the refinery would only lead to further erosion of its value. Instead, we are pursuing advanced technical partnerships to ensure its complete and high-grade rehabilitation.”

The announcement was met with enthusiastic applause from hundreds of NNPC staff who described it as a “renewed sense of business-focused direction” within the company.

Acknowledging past challenges and missteps, Ojulari emphasized transparency and the way forward: “Our journey is one of honest reflection and clear roadmap delivery. We are steadfast in our mandate as custodians of Nigeria’s energy infrastructure, committed to the viability and sustainability of our refineries.”

The event also featured progress presentations from all business units — Upstream, Downstream, Finance, Business Services, Gas, Power, and New Energy — which highlighted operational achievements, ongoing reforms, and critical focus areas.

Employees and stakeholders expressed optimism about NNPC’s evolving strategic direction, describing the atmosphere as “reassuring,” “transformational,” and “sustainable.”

Concluding the session, Ojulari stated, “NNPC Ltd will continue to reposition itself as a commercially driven and professionally managed national energy company, grounded in transparency and dedicated to delivering value to Nigerians — our foremost stakeholders.”