The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) is awaiting technical assessment reports from two Chinese companies before deciding on further investments to restart the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
NNPC’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh, said the assessments were being finalised after about three months of inspections by engineers from the Chinese firms and the national oil company.
The companies, Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xinganchen (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Limited, are expected to identify the repairs, technology and upgrades needed to make both facilities operate reliably and profitably.
Odeh explained that NNPC was pursuing a partnership model that would involve investors sharing responsibility for the refineries’ performance, rather than simply paying contractors to complete rehabilitation work.
He said repairing the facilities alone would not guarantee success without adequate funding, sound engineering and the technical capacity to operate them efficiently.
The next steps include completing the assessment reports, receiving detailed proposals from the prospective partners and agreeing on the technical and commercial terms. Final agreements, regulatory approvals and an investment decision would then be required before a restart programme could be confirmed.
NNPC said it would not announce a resumption date until these issues had been resolved. The company added that the success of the initiative would ultimately depend on sustained production and a reliable supply of petroleum products.
The proposed partnership follows a memorandum of understanding signed by NNPC and the two Chinese firms on April 30, 2026. The framework covers outstanding rehabilitation work, operations and maintenance at the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, as well as possible upgrades and expansion, including petrochemical projects.
However, NNPC clarified that the memorandum was preliminary and did not constitute a final investment or operating agreement.
At a media briefing on September 29, NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, said the company would not commit to further rehabilitation spending without a clear path to commercial viability.
The company said the proposed arrangement was designed to attract partners willing to invest in the facilities and take responsibility for their performance, rather than leave NNPC to bear the costs without guaranteed results.
NNPC also clarified that rehabilitation work on the Kaduna refinery had not started under this partnership model, which currently covers only the Port Harcourt and Warri facilities.
The company said restoring domestic refining capacity could improve fuel availability, encourage competition and reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported finished petroleum products.
Meanwhile, NNPC said its petrol discount, introduced on October 1, would remain in effect until October 31, 2026, as a temporary measure to ease the burden on consumers.
