The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) is evaluating technical and financial partnership structures for the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries as the state-owned energy company seeks a commercially sustainable route to return the facilities to operation.
The latest effort represents a shift from repeated rehabilitation programmes toward a model that could bring external technical expertise, investment capital and operational capability into the management of Nigeria’s state-owned refining assets.
NNPC has yet to conclude a definitive commercial agreement for the two facilities with discussions and due diligence continuing before a final investment and operating structure is determined.
The process follows an agreement reached earlier this year with Chinese companies Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xinganchen (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Ltd.
NNPC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the companies in April to explore a technical equity partnership covering the completion and operation of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
The arrangement goes beyond restarting existing processing units. It envisages potential expansion of the refineries, additional petrochemical capacity and the development of gas-based industrial activities around the complexes.
Technical assessments have since been carried out at the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Port Harcourt Refinery as the parties determine the condition of the assets and the investment required to establish sustainable operations.
However, the assessment has not translated into a final partnership.
NNPC’s eventual decision will depend on the commercial viability of the proposed arrangement, satisfactory due diligence and the regulatory and corporate approvals required to implement a transaction.
The approach reflects a broader change in NNPC’s refinery strategy under Group Chief Executive Officer Bashir Ojulari.
Ojulari has previously identified financing, engineering capability and competent long-term operations as critical components of a viable refinery model with NNPC increasingly focused on ensuring that rehabilitated plants can operate profitably rather than merely completing engineering work.
The Port Harcourt refining complex has an installed processing capacity of 210,000 barrels per day, while the Warri refinery has capacity for 125,000 barrels per day.
Returning both facilities to sustainable production would therefore restore as much as 335,000 barrels per day of nameplate state-owned refining capacity, although actual output would depend on utilisation rates following rehabilitation.
The search for partners has taken on greater significance following another surge in international crude oil and refined-product prices.
Petrol prices have climbed to between N1,400 and N1,500 per litre in parts of Nigeria, while diesel has crossed N2,000 per litre in some markets, increasing pressure on businesses and households.
Petroleum marketers have consequently renewed calls for greater domestic refining capacity, arguing that Nigeria remains vulnerable to movements in international product prices and associated import costs.
The government has spent substantial amounts attempting to rehabilitate its refineries over the years, but the facilities have struggled to achieve sustained commercial production.
The Port Harcourt refinery returned to operation following rehabilitation before being shut again in May 2025 for maintenance and an operational assessment.
The Warri refinery also resumed limited operations in late 2024 before subsequently shutting down.
The repeated disruptions have strengthened the case within NNPC for an operating structure in which technical capability and commercial sustainability are considered alongside the capital required to repair the facilities.
The refinery landscape has also changed substantially with the emergence of privately owned domestic refining capacity, particularly the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
For NNPC, successfully bringing Warri and Port Harcourt back into sustained production would increase competition in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market while giving the national oil company additional capacity to process domestic crude into petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and other products.
NNPC has indicated that further details on the partnership process will be announced when negotiations reach a significant milestone.