The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) may sell its Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries as it reevaluates its strategy on the back of underwhelming results from recent investments, NaijNaira can report.
Bayo Ojulari, NNPC’s Group CEO, shared this with Bloomberg during the OPEC International Seminar in Vienna. He said: “We made a lot of investments and introduced modern technologies, but some haven’t worked as expected.”
He pointed out that reviving older refineries comes with complications. “It’s a bit more complicated than anticipated, so we’re reviewing everything,” Ojulari added. “A sale isn’t off the table; all options are open depending on how our internal reviews go.”
Ojulari also revealed Nigeria’s crude production costs sit between $25 and $30 per barrel, mainly due to heightened security spending. “We’ve had to invest heavily to ensure 100 percent pipeline availability,” he noted.
He said the country is targeting an oil output of 1.9 million barrels per day by year-end.
Meanwhile, Aliko Dangote expressed doubt about the effectiveness of state-owned refineries, comparing them to outdated cars that can’t handle new engines.
Though the Port Harcourt refinery resumed in late 2024, it shut down again for maintenance by May, while Warri and Kaduna are still undergoing repairs.
Article updated 3 days ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
