The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, has revealed that the company is contemplating the sale of some of its refineries, citing persistent challenges in their rehabilitation.
Speaking during an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday at the 9th OPEC International Seminar in Vienna, Austria, Ojulari stated that a comprehensive review of NNPC’s refinery strategy is ongoing and expected to be concluded by year-end.
He said, “So 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.”
When asked whether the review could lead to the sale of NNPC’s refineries, Ojulari responded, “But what we’re saying is that 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,” he added.
Nigeria has made concerted efforts to revive its ailing state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna. The Port Harcourt refinery, which resumed partial operations in November 2023, was again shut down in May 2025 for maintenance.
Ojulari blamed the setbacks on aging infrastructure and unreliable technology. “So refineries, we made quite a lot of investment over the last several years and brought in a lot of technologies. We’ve been challenged.”
“Some of those technologies have not worked as we expected so far. But also, as you know, when you’re refining a very old refinery that has been abandoned for some time, what we’re finding is that it’s becoming a little bit more complicated,” he explained.
On Nigeria’s oil production expenses, Ojulari disclosed that the cost per barrel remains high due to significant security investments.
“For the cost of crude production, there’s a capital cost and there are the operating costs,” he said. “The operating cost right now in Nigeria is hovering over $20 per barrel, which is quite high.”
“Part of that is because of the investment we’ve had to make in terms of security of our pipelines, which, as you know, today we have 100 per cent availability of our pipelines. That came out of significant investment.”
“So we believe with time, with stability, that cost will start going down, but for now it’s somewhere between $25 and $30 a barrel,” he added.
Despite the operational challenges, Ojulari affirmed NNPC’s target to boost Nigeria’s oil production to 1.9 million barrels per day by the end of 2025.
