The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has accused Bayo Ojulari, the group chief executive officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, of lacking interest in fixing the Port Harcourt refinery.
On May 24, the NNPC shut down the refinery for maintenance.
In a statement on Monday, Sunny Nkpe, zonal chairman of PETROAN, eastern zone, expressed concern over the slow pace of activity at the old Port Harcourt refinery since its closure.
“The Port Harcourt refinery is key to the supply chain distribution of petroleum products all over Nigeria, supplying to major cities like Aba, Enugu, Makurdi, and other key states,” he said.
Nkpe called on “the GCEO of NNPC to give the Port Harcourt refinery top priority attention”, while urging President Bola Tinubu to direct immediate action to revive the facility.
He alleged that the delays seem to be driven by vested interests seeking to undermine the president’s vision.
According to Nkpe, Ojulari “has not visited the refinery physically” in his four months in office, suggesting a lack of passion for restoring operations.
“The contractors lamented that they are owed for over 12 months without funding,” Nkpe added.
He noted that repairs to the cracking and blending plant of unit 12 and unit 14 of the old refinery were near completion before the new GCEO “gave no commitment and showed lack of interest” — a move he claimed “signals support to give a competitive advantage to private refineries to gain monopoly”.
Nkpe stressed that restarting production would help stabilise petroleum product prices and reduce the dominance of private refineries.
He said that when the refinery operated for seven months, economic activities thrived, petty traders in host communities benefited, jobs were created, and fuel prices remained stable.
“Above all, the prices of petroleum products were stable and at average, hence competition was at its peak,” he stated.
While welcoming Ojulari’s appointment, Nkpe expressed disappointment at his “inability to show capacity in reviving the old Port Harcourt refinery, which was supposed to be fixed within 30 days from May 24th, 2025”.
The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) consists of two plants — the old facility with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) and a newer one with 150,000 bpsd — for a combined capacity of 210,000 bpsd.
On June 11, Ojulari said the company was considering selling state-owned refineries due to repair challenges. However, on July 30, he stated there were no plans to sell the Port Harcourt refinery.