The Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), Bayo Ojulari, said on Thursday the state-owned oil company would consider the sale of the country’s refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna.
Ojulari, who spoke in an interview with Bloomberg, admitted that it is becoming a “bit more” complicated to revamp the refineries.
The interview took place on the sidelines of the 9th Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) international seminar in Vienna, Austria.
The NNPCL chief said the company is currently reassessing its refineries strategies and aims to finalise the review by year-end.
He said: “So, on refineries, we made quite a lot of investment over the last several years and brought in a lot of technologies. We’ve been challenged.
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“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.
“So, we’re reviewing all our refinery strategies now. 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.”
When pressed on if the strategies he mentioned include the outright sale of the refineries, Ojulai said;
“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.”
