The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has ruled out the sale of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, reaffirming its commitment to rehabilitating and retaining the facility.
The announcement was made by the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, during a company-wide town hall meeting held Tuesday at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, putting to rest weeks of speculation over the future of the refinery.
A statement released by the company emphasized that the Port Harcourt refinery remains a strategic national asset, and its sale is no longer under consideration. Instead, the company plans to pursue a high-grade rehabilitation of the plant through advanced technical partnerships.
NNPCL noted that an internal review showed that the earlier proposal to commence operations at the refinery before completing its full rehabilitation was “ill-informed and subcommercial.” The company warned that any move to sell the asset could lead to further value erosion.
While rehabilitation efforts continue across the company’s three refineries, the statement made clear that the Port Harcourt facility remains central to NNPCL’s refining roadmap.
