The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has officially ruled out the sale of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, reaffirming its commitment to completing its “high-grade rehabilitation and retention of the plant.”
Bayo Ojulari, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, made this announcement during a company-wide town hall meeting at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.
This declaration puts an end to weeks of speculation surrounding the future of Nigeria’s most prominent state-owned refining asset.
A statement released by NNPC Ltd management on Wednesday confirmed the decision, quoting Ojulari as describing the sale of the Port Harcourt Refining Company as “ill-advised and sub-commercial.”
Ojulari’s recent remarks come amid public concern sparked by his earlier comments at the 2025 OPEC Seminar in Vienna, where he had stated that “all options are on the table” regarding the future of Nigeria’s refineries.
That previous statement had triggered widespread speculation that a sale might be imminent.
However, Ojulari clarified that the firm’s new position is not a “shift,” but rather informed by ongoing detailed technical and financial reviews of the Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri refineries.
The statement added, “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.
”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.
”Thus, selling is highly unlikely as it would lead to further value erosion.”
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