Nigeria’s state-owned oil company says it is taking a different approach to reviving two of the country’s largest refineries, signalling a shift from years of government-funded rehabilitation projects towards a commercial partnership model backed by foreign investors.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited said the memorandum of understanding it signed with two Chinese companies to rehabilitate and operate the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries has entered a detailed technical and commercial evaluation phase, stressing that no final investment agreement has yet been reached.
Group Chief Executive Officer Bayo Ojulari said the evaluation is intended to determine whether the proposed partnership can deliver profitable and self-sustaining refining operations rather than another round of temporary repairs.
“Fixing a refinery takes more than pipes and pumps. It takes the right partners,” Ojulari said, adding that the memorandum is only a framework for exploring cooperation and should not be interpreted as a binding contract.
Unlike previous rehabilitation programmes financed largely through public resources, the prospective Chinese partners are expected to bear the cost of the due diligence process, allowing technical, financial and operational assessments to be completed before either side makes long-term commitments.
