From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has admitted that Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries operated at a monumental loss despite about $18 billion spent on their rehabilitation, a development that informed the decision to shut them down.
Engr. Bayo Ojulari, the company Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), made the disclosure on Wednesday, during a Fireside Chat on Securing Nigeria’s Energy Future at the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) 2026 in Abuja.
Nigeria’s four refineries, including Port Harcourt Refinery I and II, Warri Refinery, and Kaduna Refinery — have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day (bpd) but are currently non-functional, a situation long blamed on decades of underinvestment, poor maintenance, and vandalism.
According to the NNPC boss, continuing refinery operations under the existing structure amounted to “wasting money”, as the facilities consistently failed to deliver value.
“We were running at a monumental loss to Nigeria. We were just wasting money”, Ojulari said.
He explained that NNPC was spending heavily on operations and contractors while crude oil cargoes supplied to the refineries were poorly utilised, averaging between 50 and 55 percent.
“That cargo is valuable. We were pumping cargo every month into the refineries, spending a lot of money on operations and contractors, but at the end of the day, we were leaking value. There was no clarity on how to turn that loss into a positive”, he added.
Ojulari said his first major decision as GCEO was to halt operations in order to stop further losses and reassess the company’s refinery strategy.
“So, the first decision I had to make was to stop the rot, stop operations, and recalibrate quickly to understand what exactly we needed to do”, he stated.
The NNPC boss noted that reviving the refineries would require three critical components: adequate financing, competent Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors, and world-class operational capacity
However, Ojulari admitted that NNPC currently lacks the technical and operational capacity to efficiently run the refineries as profitable businesses.
“We know that refinery margins are very high globally, but with the structure we have today, NNPC cannot run a profitable refinery. We simply don’t have the capacity right now”, he said.
To address this challenge, the GCEO revealed that NNPC is seeking partnerships with experienced refinery operators who possess proven track records in managing and running refineries.
“We are not looking for contractors or just operations and maintenance arrangements. We are looking for entities that actually run refineries, who can come in, partner with us, and help rebuild our skills”, he said.
Ojulari added that the strategy, already approved by the NNPC board, includes the option of selling down part of the company’s equity in the refineries to credible partners, stressing that this does not amount to selling off national assets.
“We are not selling Nigeria. We are looking at options to sell down some equity so that we can bring in capacity and ensure the refineries are self-financing and run sustainably like real businesses”, he said.
He expressed optimism that the new approach would ultimately del
iver long-term value to Nigeria and secure the country’s energy future.
