The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has dismissed speculation about the sale of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, reaffirming its commitment to completing the facility’s rehabilitation and retaining it as a national asset.

Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, Bayo Ojulari, made this clarification during a company-wide town hall at the NNPC Towers in Abuja. The announcement followed media speculation triggered by Ojulari’s earlier remarks at the 2025 OPEC Seminar in Vienna, where he said “all options are on the table” concerning Nigeria’s refineries.

Ojulari explained that the decision to delay full operations at the Port Harcourt refinery was based on technical and financial reviews. The previous plan to restart the refinery before completing full rehabilitation was deemed commercially unviable.

Touted as a $1.5 billion overhaul, the refinery had briefly resumed operations in late 2024 before shutting down again, sparking public disillusionment. Compounding the situation, the EFCC recently arrested former refinery heads over allegations of misappropriating nearly $3 billion allocated for the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri refineries.

Despite the setbacks, Ojulari said NNPC remained focused on high-grade rehabilitation efforts. Selling the refinery, he added, would lead to further value erosion and contradict the national energy security agenda.

The town hall also featured updates from Executive Vice Presidents across NNPC’s Upstream, Downstream, Gas, Power, and New Energy divisions. Challenges were acknowledged, and a roadmap for future progress was presented.

NNPC described the session as transformational, noting that employees expressed optimism and alignment with the company’s evolving strategic direction. “We are reaffirming our role as custodians of national energy infrastructure and our resolve to retain critical assets under national control,” the company said.

Ojulari concluded that NNPC would continue to position itself as a commercially driven and transparently managed national energy company, committed to delivering value to Nigerians.