 has officially ruled out the sale of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, opting instead for a full-blown rehabilitation of the iconic){kind=link}
In a major policy shift, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has officially ruled out the sale of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, opting instead for a full-blown rehabilitation of the iconic facility.
The announcement was made during a company-wide town hall meeting at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, where Group Chief Executive Officer Bayo Ojulari ended weeks of swirling speculation by affirming the company’s strategic commitment to reviving Nigeria’s most critical state-owned refining asset.
“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 from the company read.
Ojulari further disclosed that a recent internal review concluded that the initial decision to partially operate the refinery before completing its overhaul was “ill-informed and subcommercial.”
While acknowledging progress on ongoing rehabilitation works, NNPCL noted that the refinery’s future lies in forging advanced technical partnerships rather than divesting. The company stressed that any attempt to sell now would only result in “further value erosion.”
With this bold move, NNPCL signals a renewed determination to restore domestic refining capacity and strengthen national energy security, shelving privatisation in favour of strategic revitalisation.
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