The federal government says it is considering the sale of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited’s refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna to private investors to enhance competition in the country’s oil refining sector.

Olu Verheijen, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on energy, disclosed this during an interview with Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday.

Verheijen said the move was one of several options being examined to attract capable technical partners with sufficient capital to revive the refineries and ensure efficiency.

“It’s one of the options that you have to consider if you find the right technical partner with the right capital,” she stated.

She explained that the refineries had been sustained by subsidies for years, but with the recent removal of fuel subsidies, the government is seeking to eliminate distortions in the sector and promote a more competitive market environment.

In October, the NNPC announced it had begun a comprehensive technical and commercial review of its non-functional refineries as part of ongoing efforts to determine their future. Earlier in July, NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari noted that revamping the plants had become “a bit more complicated,” suggesting that a reassessment would be completed before year-end.

Verheijen further revealed that the federal government ultimately aims to make NNPC more transparent and efficient, ahead of a long-anticipated initial public offering (IPO).

“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,” she said.