'Not going to happen' - NNPC boss rules out sale of Port Harcourt Refinery

‎‎The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has officially refuted a purported plan to sell the Port Harcourt Refining Company, reaffirming its commitment to maintaining and retaining the plant.

Speaking during a company-wide town hall meeting at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Bayo Ojulari, announced the decision.

Ojulari's announcement ended weeks of speculation over the future of the country’s most prominent state-owned refining asset, which some experts and critics have declared as unredeemable.

“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has officially ruled out the sale of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, reaffirming its commitment to completing high-grade rehabilitation and retention of the plant,'' ‎a statement by the company's management on Wednesday read.

ALSO READ: NNPCL shuts down Port Harcourt Refinery

The NNPC boss further described selling the Port Harcourt Refining Company as “ill-advised and sub-commercial.”

‎‎The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has officially ruled out the sale of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, reaffirming its commitment to completing high-grade rehabilitation and retention of the plant.

Ojulari's remarks may have doused rising public concern sparked by his earlier comments at the 2025 OPEC Seminar in Vienna, where he cast a doubt over the Port Harcourt Refinery's future.

He said “all options are on the table,” hinting at the possibility of the plant being sold, a statement that triggered a wave of speculation that a sale might be imminent.

However, Ojulari said the oil company's new position isn't a shift, but a decision informed by ongoing detailed technical and financial reviews of the Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri refineries.

“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.

ALSO READ: Explosion: NNPCL confirms flare at Port Harcourt Refinery

”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.” the statement added.