The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has attributed the persistent failures of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries to poor operational capacity rather than lack of funding or engineering contractors.
Speaking at the 2026 Nigerian International Energy Summit, NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer Bayo Ojulari said repeated attempts to fix the plants had ended up ‘destroying value’, with billions of dollars spent on financing arrangements and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts, while little attention was paid to how the facilities would be run over their decades-long lifespans.
‘Everybody focused on financing and EPC’, he said. ‘The financier gets paid. The EPC contractor delivers and moves on. Then you are left for the next 20, 30 years to run the refinery, and that is where we failed’.
Ojulari argued that refineries are not short-term projects but long-term operating businesses that require world-class operational excellence, continuous skills development and strong institutional knowledge.
Without this, he said, operations and maintenance contracts simply become another cost drain, with no accountability or skills transfer.
‘When you don’t have the capability to supervise O&M providers, it becomes another contract taking money out of the system. There is no way any business can survive like that’, he noted.
Under a strategy approved by the board, Ojulari said NNPC is now seeking partners with a proven record of running large refineries, rather than contractors or purely financial investors.
He clarified that this would not amount to selling off national assets, but selectively selling down equity to bring in operators with ‘skin in the game’.
‘We are not looking for money’, he said. ‘We are looking for people who know how to run refineries’.
Ojulari disclosed that talks were already underway with potential partners, including a major Chinese refining company, with technical teams expected to visit one of Nigeria’s refineries imminently. The level of equity dilution, he added, would be ‘as much as required’ to secure long-term sustainability.
He stressed that the goal is to ensure refineries operate as self-financing commercial businesses, rather than depend on government support.
According to him, the model must allow refineries to sell products, finance themselves and run like viable enterprises.
Beyond refining, he said the same operational approach would guide Nigeria’s broader downstream and gas strategy, including partnerships with domestic refineries under the naira-for-crude framework and a renewed push for gas-based industrialisation.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has renewed calls for full optimisation of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, describing it as central to efforts to meet domestic fuel demand and restore market confidence.
The Authority’s Chief Executive, Saidu Mohammed, said the refinery should be seen not just as an industrial asset but as a structural response to decades of supply instability, import dependence and regulatory distortions.
With an installed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, the Dangote facility is already supplying a significant share — and at times the entirety — of Nigeria’s domestic requirement for certain petroleum products. However, NMDPRA said only sustained and optimal utilisation would translate capacity into lasting energy security.
The push comes amid full downstream deregulation under the Petroleum Industry Act, rising domestic refining capacity and wider macroeconomic reforms, including naira-based crude and product trading. Regulators said these measures have helped stabilise supply and cut fiscal leakages from imports by trillions of naira.
Mohammed said he expects completion of licensed private refineries and rehabilitation of state-owned plants, adding that regulatory predictability would attract more investment into the sector.
Regulator, operators project business-friendly sector as reforms unlock output
Also, Nigeria’s upstream regulator and industry operators yesterday projected a more collaborative, business-enabling oil and gas sector, saying regulatory certainty, faster approvals and smarter partnerships are beginning to unlock production and investment.
The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said early interventions by the Commission had helped clear delayed approvals and immediately restored additional production for a major local operator.
According to her, the outcome reinforced confidence in the regulator’s three pillars — regulatory certainty, production growth and sustainable governance.
Eyesan said the objective was not regulation for its own sake, but business enablement through clear rules, faster permitting and predictable engagement, to help Nigeria sustain output above 1.7 million barrels per day and grow towards the Federal Government’s two-million-barrel target, while aligning with global energy-transition realities.
On investment, she said the ongoing licensing round — offering 50 oil and gas blocks across the Niger Delta and frontier basins — features competitive fiscal terms designed to lower entry barriers and attract both local and international capital.
Also speaking, Group Executive Director of Pan Ocean Oil Corporation and the Newcross Group of Companies, Dr Bolaji Ogundare, said Nigeria’s strategy of asset diversification, infrastructure investment and partnership-driven financing had strengthened resilience and supported production growth.
He stressed that sustainable development of the country’s hydrocarbon resources would depend on locally structured financing, stronger collaboration and a regulatory environment that balances growth with long-term economic stability.
Dangote refinery denies fuel import claims, cites global standards
In a related development, Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals dismissed reports alleging that it imports finished petroleum products, describing the claims as inaccurate and based on a misunderstanding of how modern global refineries operate.
The company said it functions as a large-scale merchant refinery, refining crude oil and processing intermediate feedstocks into premium petroleum products and petrochemicals that meet international standards.
Speaking during a media briefing at the refinery complex, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, David Bird, explained that processing intermediate or semi-processed materials is a conventional practice across the global refining industry and does not amount to importing finished fuels.
Bird said the Dangote refinery operates on a European and Asian merchant refinery model, combining advanced refining, blending and trading systems designed to meet modern quality and environmental benchmarks.
‘DPRP produces high-quality fuels aligned with international environmental and health standards. Our gasoline is lead-free and MMT-free with 50 parts per million sulphur, while our diesel meets ultra-low sulphur specifications. These standards help reduce emissions, protect engines, and safeguard public health’, he said.
He reaffirmed that the refinery supplies only fully refined, market-ready products, stressing that semi-finished fuels are not suitable for vehicles and are therefore not released into the Nigerian market. During the briefing, samples of both intermediate feedstocks and fully refined products were shown to journalists to demonstrate the difference.
According to Bird, the refinery was established to end years of exposure to substandard fuel in Nigeria by ensuring the availability of products that comply with strict global standards. He added that DPRP’s products are now exported to international markets, underscoring their quality and competitiveness.
He explained that industry-standard intermediate materials such as naphtha, straight-run gas oil, vacuum gas oil, reformate, alkylate and isomerate are further processed into finished fuels like petrol and diesel, as well as petrochemicals, noting that understanding this value chain is key to avoiding misinformation.
Bird said the refinery remains committed to transparency with regulators and other stakeholders, urging the media to help educate the public on the distinction between intermediate products and finished fuels.
‘It is unfortunate that some individuals are deliberately spreading misleading narratives about a refinery that has transformed Nigeria and the West African region from a dumping ground for substandard fuels into a hub for high-quality products’, he said.
He added that the plant’s flexible configuration allows it to process a wide range of crude grades and intermediate feedstocks into premium fuels, improving operational efficiency and product quality.
Bird also assured Nigerians of sustained product availability, saying the refinery has contributed to easing fuel scarcity, stabilising the naira and reducing pressure on foreign exchange.
