Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Bayo Ojulari, has admitted that ongoing efforts to rehabilitate Nigeria’s state-owned refineries have become “a bit more complicated” than anticipated. He revealed this during an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the 9th OPEC International Seminar held in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday.
Ojulari disclosed that the company is currently reassessing its refinery rehabilitation strategy and aims to conclude the review before the end of 2025. While the Port Harcourt refinery officially began crude processing in November 2023, it was shut down again in May 2025 for maintenance. The Warri and Kaduna refineries remain under rehabilitation.
“So refineries—we made quite a lot of investment over the last several years and brought in a lot of technologies. We’ve been challenged,” Ojulari said. “Some of those technologies have not worked as we expected so far. But also, as you know, when you’re refining a very old refinery that has been abandoned for some time, what we’re finding is that it’s becoming a little bit more complicated.”
He added that the ongoing strategic review may result in changes to NNPC’s approach and operations.
“We hope before the end of the year, we’ll be able to conclude that review. That review may lead to us doing things slightly differently,” Ojulari stated.
When asked whether the review could lead to the sale of the refineries, Ojulari said that option is not off the table.
“But what we’re saying is that sale is not out of the question. All the options are on the table, to be frank, but that decision will be based on the outcome of the reviews we’re doing now,” he said.
Ojulari also addressed the cost of crude oil production in Nigeria, noting that the operating cost in the upstream sector currently ranges between $20 and $30 per barrel — a level he described as high.
“The operating cost right now in Nigeria is hovering over $20 per barrel, which is quite high,” he said. “Part of that is because of the investment we’ve had to make in terms of security of our pipelines. Today, we have 100 percent availability of our pipelines. That came out of significant investment.”
Despite the high costs, Ojulari expressed optimism that with greater stability, the cost of production would decline over time.
The NNPC boss also revealed that Nigeria is working toward raising its oil output to 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of 2025, signaling efforts to boost production amid global energy transitions and domestic economic pressures.
