NNPCL seeks $60bn investment for 500,000bpd refining

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Engr. Bayo Bashir Ojulari has stated that it is seeking investments of $60bn to expand the refining capacity of Nigeria to 500,000 barrels per day of crude oil. Speaking during a courtesy to his office by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Ojulari said the company is […]

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Engr. Bayo Bashir Ojulari has stated that it is seeking investments of $60bn to expand the refining capacity of Nigeria to 500,000 barrels per day of crude oil.

Speaking during a courtesy to his office by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Ojulari said the company is working to also increase crude oil production to 3 million barrels.

At another forum, the GMD revealed that the Company is under attack from people who don’t mean well for Nigeria and those who are against the ongoing transformation efforts in the Company.

Daily Trust reports that the NNPC has three refineries with 445,000 refining capacity with Kaduna Refinery 110,000 bbl/d; Port Harcourt Refinery with 210,000 bbl/d and Warri Refinery with 125,000 bbl/d.

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None of the refineries is functional at the moment despite the billions of naira in turnaround maintenance.

The NNPC recently mulled the idea of selling the refineries before it made a U-turn.

Ojulari speaking yesterday said, “Our aspiration is to pitch that target on the gas. You’ve also noticed the refinery capacity where we are required to have additional refining capacity of 500,000 barrels per day by 2030. And to achieve that, we are required to bring in additional investment of a minimum of $60 billion.

“So if you look at those numbers, they’re big numbers, but if I then think about the comment you made around Saudi Aramco, these are small chicken changes for Saudi Aramco. And so that’s where the context is, but it takes a lot of transformation for us to be able to achieve this kind of numbers.”

He stated that the company is working hard to ensure the investment made in critical sectors in the oil and gas leads to a strong economy for Nigeria, and said the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project is one of its main priorities to create more business and employment in the country.

“The AKK you know is one of the major game changers for Nigeria because we believe that it will open up more businesses. People think about it as just a pipeline, but the gas that is coming through and the number of industries that will spin off from that is something that we are really proud of and the economic impact for Nigeria will be quite significant.”

On his part, the Executive Secretary/CEO of NEITI, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, said the EITI International Secretariat in Oslo has specifically requested urgent attention to NNPC’s public disclosures as Nigeria prepares for its next Validation.

He said historically, NNPC has led by publishing: audited financial statements, monthly financial and operations reports, monthly crude oil and gas production and sales data, among others.

“These disclosures earned NNPC global recognition as a bold reform leader and strengthened investor confidence. However, while production data and audited accounts are still disclosed, several other critical publications have become irregular, delayed, or discontinued, creating gaps in time-series data and reducing accessibility.”

 

 ‘We are under attack’

Meanwhile, Ojulari revealed that the Company is under attack from people who don’t mean well for Nigeria and those who are against the ongoing transformation efforts in the Company.

Ojulari disclosed this while playing host to a delegation from the national body of the Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Thursday.

He said because change always comes with a price, the NNPC Management will not succumb to such attacks. Instead, it will work for the larger interest of Nigerians.

“We are under attack. We will not budge to short-term pressure, as it will not be in the best interest of Nigerians. You cannot drive change without a price, and the transformation is tough,” Ojulari explained.

A statement by the company said the GCEO emphasised that patience will be required from the Nigerian people at large to get to the other side of change, which will benefit Nigeria and her citizens.

Earlier in his address, the President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Festus Osifo, said the oil workers union came to thank the NNPC Management for its partnership during the recently held 2025 PENGASSAN Energy & Labour Summit (PEALS) in Abuja.