The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has shown plans to partner with private refining firms in its effort to achieve efficiency and put an end to decades of profitable production in the refineries within the country.
Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, disclosed this during a meeting with the leadership of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in Abuja. He admitted that years of neglect had left the refineries unsustainable, with losses running between \$300 million and \$500 million annually.
We have done a commercial evaluation of the Port Harcourt refinery and determined that the best course is to bring in a professional refinery company as a partner,” Ojulari explained. “We cannot keep patching one section today and having another blow out tomorrow. Partnership is the only viable route to sustainability.
He reinforced that President Bola Tinubu had never pushed NNPCL to run the refineries at all costs but instructed that any rehabilitation work must be commercially and technically viable.
Ojulari also revealed existing plans to replace aging pipelines and cluster up maintenance contracts to cut costs. He noted that the reforms will open up new opportunities for fresh engineers and technicians and introduce modern standards of training.
PENGASSAN president Comrade Festus Osifo welcomed the offer in good faith, reiterating the union’s call for the implementation of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) model, where private investors drive operations and government has a minority interest.
“NLNG is a proven model working. With seasoned refiners on board while NNPCL has reduced ownership, it will minimize political interference and bring sustainability,” Osifo said.
He promised Ojulari the devotion of PENGASSAN to total support and appealed to NNPCL also to focus on ramping up crude production, suggesting that with proper reforms, Nigeria could boost production from 1.8 million barrels per day to 2.5 million by next year.
