The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has officially ruled out the sale of the state-owned Port Harcourt refinery.
The GCEO of the national oil company, Bayo Ojulari, made this known in a statement on Wednesday at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.
This follows recent speculation that the oil firm may sell the refinery. The rumour emerged after a technical review led to its shutdown earlier in April.
Ojulari had said at the OPEC Seminar in Vienna, Austria, earlier this month that “sales not out of the question” when asked about options the company was considering regarding the refineries.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, has four non-operational refineries owned by the federal government.
These refineries, which have cost the country billions of dollars in turnaround maintenance (TAM), have been unable to refine crude.
As a result, the country continues to import most of its petroleum products from Europe and America.
Ojulari, responding to the perceived misinterpretation of his previous statement, said no option to sell the refineries is currently on the table.
Rather, he explained that the company was “ill-informed” to operate the Port Harcourt refinery before the full completion of its rehabilitation.
“Although progress is being made on all three, the emerging outlook calls for more advanced technical partnerships to complete and high-grade the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery.
“Thus, selling is highly unlikely as it would lead to further value erosion,” Ojulari added.
The GCEO took over from his predecessor, Mele Kyari, in April.
His appointment came alongside a board reshuffle, aimed at cleaning up the oil firm amid low public trust.
Ojulari shut down the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries weeks after assuming office. He stated that the plants had to undergo further rehabilitation.
Since then, no new updates on the status of the refineries have been made public.
