The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Bayo Ojulari, has disclosed that the Port Harcourt refinery was draining about N500 million monthly, forcing the company to suspend rehabilitation efforts.
Ojulari made the revelation on Thursday in Abuja while receiving a delegation from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), led by its president, Festus Osifo.
According to him, years of neglect had made fixing the refinery a daunting task.
“When you fix one thing, another problem arises. So, it’s been very difficult to get it working. On resumption, I prioritised the refineries for a quick review, only to discover that we were losing between N300 million and N500 million monthly at Port Harcourt alone,” he said.
Ojulari explained that despite pumping about 950,000 barrels of crude oil into the facility, less than 40 percent of the input was being refined. He added that the plant could only produce mid-grade products because only one section of the refinery was operational.
He also clarified misconceptions about the facility’s design:
“People talk about the ‘old refinery’ and the ‘new refinery’. That’s wrong. Both units were designed to work together. The old section was meant to feed into the new to produce products that meet market standards.”
The NNPC boss said attempts to revamp the old section proved suboptimal, leaving the company unable to produce premium motor spirit (PMS) efficiently. The limited output, he added, came at a significant financial loss.
“Rather than continue to bleed resources, we chose to stop operations and explore a more sustainable model that ensures profitability and jobs,” he noted.
Ojulari further stressed that President Bola Tinubu had not pressured him to cut corners.
“The mandate I was given is to establish a clear baseline and ensure sustainability. There was no political pressure to keep running at a loss,” he said.
He reaffirmed that NNPC remains committed to completing a high-grade rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery, while ruling out any plans to sell the facility.