The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has finally brought in the big guns — Chinese technical giants — to decide the fate of Nigeria’s three dead refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna.
Group Chief Executive Officer, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, dropped the bombshell yesterday in Abuja while unveiling NNPCL’s N7.2 trillion profit, declaring that the old era of pumping billions into refineries that refine nothing is over.
“The national refineries will become operational when they are profitable,” Ojulari declared bluntly.
34 Chinese Engineers On Ground, Audit At Zero Cost To Nigeria
Under a new technical equity partnership model, NNPCL has deployed over 34 top Chinese engineers for a three-month intrusive onsite due diligence across the three plants.
The partners are reviewing the refineries at no cost to Nigeria, Ojulari stressed, with the plan to co-own them and run them with an ownership mindset.
“And we are now looking at concluding that report. What we want going forward is to have a refinery that is self-sustaining, that is profitable and is sustainable. We believe that in the not too distant future, we will be able to define that pathway forward,” he said.
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He added: “We learned a lot through those onsite visits. We are more confident that we will have a pathway very soon in terms of how to bring those refineries back to sustainable and profitable operation.”
China Model To Save Nigeria
Ojulari revealed he recently visited China where he toured petrochemical plants operating at 100 percent of design capacity — a stark contrast to Nigeria’s comatose refineries.
The Chinese will not just advise, they will inject equity and stay to run the plants for profit. It is no longer a turnaround maintenance racket.
“We want a refinery that is self-sustaining, profitable and sustainable. Our ambitions are specific and measurable,” Ojulari insisted.
For decades, Nigeria spent over $18 billion on refinery repairs with zero litres to show. Now, Ojulari is betting on Beijing to break the jinx.
