The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is considering selling some of its refineries as it faces challenges in their rehabilitation efforts, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, has said.
Speaking with Bloomberg on Thursday at the 9th OPEC International Seminar in Vienna, Austria, Ojulari revealed that a comprehensive review of NNPCL’s refinery operations is ongoing and expected to conclude before the end of the year.
“We’re reviewing all our refinery strategies now. We hope before the end of the year, we’ll be able to conclude that review. That review may lead to us doing things slightly differently,” Ojulari said.
When asked if the review could result in putting the refineries up for sale, he responded, “Sale is not out of the question. All the options are on the table, to be frank, but that decision will be based on the outcome of the reviews we’re doing now.”
Nigeria has long sought to revive its state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, which have struggled to operate efficiently for years. Although the Port Harcourt refinery briefly resumed operations in November 2023, it was shut down again in May for maintenance.
Ojulari cited outdated infrastructure and underperforming technologies as major challenges, noting, “We’ve made quite a lot of investment over the last several years and brought in a lot of technologies. Some of those technologies have not worked as we expected. When you’re refining in a very old refinery that has been abandoned for some time, it becomes more complicated.”
On the broader industry challenges, Ojulari addressed Nigeria’s high crude oil production costs, which he said are currently between $25 and $30 per barrel, partly due to heavy spending on pipeline security.
“The operating cost in Nigeria is hovering over $20 per barrel, which is quite high. Part of that is because of the investment we’ve made to secure our pipelines, which now have 100% availability. That came out of significant investment,” he explained.
Ojulari added that with time and continued stability, production costs are expected to decline.
Despite these challenges, NNPCL is targeting an increase in Nigeria’s oil output to 1.9 million barrels per day by the end of the year.
 is considering selling some of its refineries as it faces challenges in their....){kind=link}