The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Engr. Bayo Ojulari, has described the reopening of the Port Harcourt Refinery and Petrochemical Company as a major waste of resources.
Speaking on Wednesday at the 2026 Nigerian International Energy Summit, Ojulari said the national oil company currently does not have the capacity to run refineries profitably.
He emphasized that for refineries to operate efficiently, there must be sufficient funding, skilled Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors, and effective operations and maintenance teams.
The Port Harcourt Refinery, rehabilitated at a cost of $1.5 billion under former NNPC GCEO Mele Kyari, was reopened in November 2024 after about three years of refurbishment. However, it was shut down in May 2025 due to ongoing financial losses.
Ojulari revealed that after reviewing the refinery’s operations over several months, it was clear the facility was incurring huge losses.
“The first thing that became clear was that we were running at a monumental loss to Nigeria. We were just wasting money. I can say that confidently now,” he said.
“So the first decision I had to make was to stop the rot by shutting it down and then quickly recalibrating to see what could be done.”
He questioned why the refinery continued to make losses even with regular crude supply.
“We were pumping cargo into the refinery every month, but utilisation was around 50 to 55 per cent. Those cargoes have value, and we were losing that value. We were spending a lot of money on operations and contractors.
“But when you look at the net outcome, we were just leaking value, and there was no clarity on how to turn those losses into positive returns,” he added.
Ojulari said NNPC is now looking for reliable partners with proven experience in refinery management to operate the country’s refineries.
“To make a refinery work, you need three things. First, you need financing to support operations and activities. Second, you need a competent EPC contractor that can deliver world-class projects. Third, you need world-class operational capacity to run the refinery.”
On plans to boost oil production, Ojulari expressed confidence that the 2026 target of 1.8 million barrels per day is achievable.
He described the Federal Government’s 2025 budget benchmark of 2.06 million barrels per day as overly ambitious, noting that average production last year was about 1.7 million barrels per day.
“For this year, we have a target of two million barrels per day, but the budget is based on about 1.8 million barrels per day. So we are not over committing,” he explained.
“One of the financial problems Nigeria faced last year was over projection. We over projected production and, by extension, revenue.
“By the middle of the year, we ran into a crisis. Oil prices were lower and production was also below projections, yet government agencies had already made spending plans based on those assumptions. These things have far-reaching consequences.
“That is why having a credible production plan should not just be a box-ticking exercise. It is something we must all take seriously,” he said.
