President Bola Tinubu has reiterated his administration’s commitment to reviving Nigeria’s dormant national refineries, insisting that the facilities will not be allowed to become stranded assets as private refiners expand their operations.
Tinubu, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Patience Oyekunle, made this known on Monday at the 20th OTL Africa Downstream Energy Week in Lagos, where he outlined the government’s priorities for the petroleum sector.
The Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries, managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, have remained largely inactive despite billions of naira spent on turnaround maintenance over the years.
The current leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding with two Chinese firms to rehabilitate the refineries.
Speaking at the OTL conference, Tinubu said the government was adopting a more rigorous and commercially viable approach to rehabilitating the national refineries, with technical assessments, stronger partnerships and improved operational discipline guiding the process.
“At the same time, the government remains committed to ensuring that existing national refining assets are not allowed to become stranded investments.
“We are pursuing a more rigorous, commercially sustainable approach to the rehabilitation and repositioning of our refineries, supported by technical assessment, stronger partnerships, and improved operational discipline,“ she stated.
Tinubu stressed that the goal was to boost domestic crude refining and position Nigeria as a supplier of refined petroleum products to other countries.
“Our objective is clear. Nigeria must first refine more of its crudes, create more value domestically, and become a reliable supplier of energy to Africa,” he said.
Tinubu’s remarks come as Nigeria seeks to expand domestic refining capacity and reduce its long-standing reliance on imported petroleum products despite its abundant crude oil resources.
He said the country was moving away from an industry historically plagued by import dependence and infrastructure challenges towards one driven by domestic refining, private investment, market efficiency, value addition and greater regional competitiveness.
According to Tinubu, the reforms introduced under the Petroleum Industry Act are designed to foster a transparent, commercially sustainable and investment-friendly petroleum industry that delivers greater value to Nigerians.
“The reforms under the PIA are designed to create a petroleum industry that is transparent, commercially viable, investment-friendly, and capable of delivering value to Nigerians. Today, we are beginning to see the results,” he said.
Tinubu described the growth of large-scale private refining as a major milestone for Nigeria’s petroleum industry, highlighting the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s role in the country’s drive to become a net exporter of refined petroleum products.
