The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Ltd has ruled out the sale of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, reaffirming its commitment to completing high-grade rehabilitation and retention of the plant.
The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC Limited, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, at a company-wide town hall meeting on Tuesday,July 29,2025,at the NNPC Towers, Abuja, stated that the position is not a shift but 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 sub-commercial.
“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”,he said.
The announcement came in the wake of widespread speculation following his remarks at the 2025 OPEC Seminar in Vienna, Austria, earlier this month, where he said during an interview with Bloomberg that “all options are on the table.”
The comment sparked speculation and headlines about the future of the nation’s refining assets.
