NNPCL rules out sale of Port Harcourt Refinery

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, has ruled out any plans to sell the Port Harcourt Refining Company, stating that the firm is fully committed to its rehabilitation and retention as a national asset.

Ojulari gave this assurance during a company-wide town hall meeting held Tuesday at the NNPCL Towers in Abuja. His clarification followed recent speculation stemming from an earlier interview with Bloomberg at the 2025 OPEC Seminar in Vienna, where he mentioned that “all options were on the table” concerning the refinery’s future.

In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, Ojulari explained that the decision to retain the Port Harcourt refinery was the result of in-depth technical and financial reviews of Nigeria’s three major refineries—Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri.

He said, “The ongoing review indicates that the earlier decision to operate the Port Harcourt refinery prior to full completion of its rehabilitation was ill-informed and sub-commercial.”

Ojulari further highlighted that while significant progress is being made on all three refineries, the complexity of the Port Harcourt plant calls for advanced technical partnerships to ensure its completion and upgrade. He noted that selling the asset at this stage could lead to value erosion, making such a move highly unlikely.

The announcement was well received by hundreds of staff at the event, who expressed appreciation for the renewed focus on a business-led strategy and the commitment to retaining key assets.

The town hall session served as both a performance review and a transparency engagement. Executive Vice Presidents from various NNPCL departments—Upstream, Downstream, Finance, Business Services, Gas, Power, and New Energy—delivered progress updates, acknowledged existing challenges, and outlined forward-looking plans.

According to the statement, Ojulari’s stance aligns with the Federal Government’s broader energy security vision and reaffirms NNPCL’s role as a strategic custodian of the nation’s energy infrastructure.

Staff members described the engagement as “reassuring,” “transformational,” and “sustainable,” with many expressing renewed hope in the company’s evolving direction.

Under Ojulari’s leadership, NNPCL is striving to deliver a fully functional and resilient national refinery system that supports economic growth and energy stability across Nigeria.