The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has confirmed it will retain ownership of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, quashing speculation about a potential sale and reiterating its resolve to complete an advanced rehabilitation of the facility.
This clarification was made by the Group Chief Executive Officer, Bashir Ojulari, during a town hall meeting with staff at the company’s headquarters in Abuja. The statement comes following public speculation triggered by Ojulari’s comments at the July 2025 OPEC Seminar in Vienna, where he suggested that “all options are on the table” in reference to Nigeria’s refining assets.
Addressing the concerns, Ojulari noted that the decision to retain the Port Harcourt plant aligns with ongoing technical and financial assessments being conducted across the nation’s three refineries—Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri. He added that an earlier plan to recommence operations at the Port Harcourt refinery before completing its full overhaul had proven commercially unwise.
“Although we are seeing steady progress across all our refineries, the latest insights call for more technically advanced partnerships to complete the Port Harcourt rehabilitation. A sale would only exacerbate value erosion,” he stated.
Ojulari emphasised that the company remains committed to becoming a commercially viable and transparently managed entity, with Nigerians as its primary stakeholders.
The town hall meeting, attended by hundreds of NNPC staff, served as both a performance review and an engagement session. Executive Vice Presidents from key departments—including Upstream, Downstream, Finance, Business Services, Gas, Power, and New Energy—presented operational updates, ongoing reforms, and key areas requiring attention.
The company’s leadership asserted that the decision to retain the Port Harcourt refinery reinforces NNPC’s role as a strategic steward of Nigeria’s critical energy infrastructure. The move also supports the federal government’s broader objective of safeguarding energy security and preserving national assets under public control.
