FG Announces Plan to Sell State Owned Refineries

By Eshiorameh Sebastian in Abuja

The federal government has announced it is considering selling the country’s state-owned oil refineries.

The plan to sell the Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna facilities is aimed at attracting investment and promoting competition in Nigeria’s oil refining sector.

SPEAR NEWS reports that the government had on July rulled out any plans to sell out the state owned assets.

Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, disclosed the plan, stating it was one of several options being considered to improve efficiency.

“It’s one of the options that you have to consider if you find the right technical partner with the right capital,” she said during an interview with Bloomberg TV.

She explained that the refineries, which had operated for years under government subsidy, now face a more competitive environment following the removal of fuel subsidies.

“Now that we’ve removed the subsidies, we’ve removed the distortions in that market,” she added.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited had earlier announced it had begun a comprehensive technical and commercial review of the three refineries.

The government also stated that a planned initial public offering (IPO) of the NNPC remains a long-term goal.

“What’s really important to the shareholders is that we have an NNPC that’s a lot more transparent, a lot more efficient and delivers,” Ms Verheijen stated.

SPEAR NEWS reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) in July this year officially ruled out any plan to sell the Port Harcourt Refining Company.

The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC, Bayo Ojulari, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to completing the high-grade rehabilitation and retention of the plant, a position informed by the ongoing detailed technical and financial reviews.

Ojulari stated that the earlier decision to operate the Port Harcourt refinery prior to the full completion of its rehabilitation was ill-informed and sub-commercial. This clarification came in the wake of widespread speculation following his earlier remarks at the 2025 OPEC Seminar where he stated that “all options are on the table.”

The NNPC clarified that the emerging outlook from the review now calls for more advanced technical partnerships to complete the rehabilitation, and that selling the asset is highly unlikely as it would lead to further value erosion.