Di Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, wey dem dey call NNPC, don sign Memorandum of Understanding with two Chinese firms for Jiaxing City, China, on April 30, 2026. Di deal na to rehabilitate and operate Warri and Port Harcourt refineries. NNPC group CEO Bashir Bayo Ojulari sign am for dia. Di statement land three days later, and dem present am as progress. But progress toward wetin exactly, dat one need answer.
Warri refinery don dey inactive since May 24, 2025, when dem shut am down for maintenance wey suppose last thirty days. But technical and commercial reviews later show deeper structural and financial challenges. By February 2026, NNPC own CEO don disclose say di refineries dey operate at significant losses. Dis one follow rehabilitation wey cost Nigeria close to $900 million. A refinery wey dem declare operational with fanfare for December 2024 and shut down one month later. A national asset wey don swallow billions across decades of turnaround maintenance cycles, each one ending for di same place: broken, shuttered, and extending im hand for di next round of public funding.
Di Chinese MOU fit feel like solution, but na pattern wey wear new address. Before Nigeria hand strategic national asset to firms from Jiaxing and Fuzhou, e suppose look at wetin im own private sector don dey do; quietly, without fanfare, without MOUs wey dem sign for foreign industrial parks — for di same oil and gas sector over di past decades. Indigenous firms now account for over 60 percent of Nigeria current crude oil and gas output. For di forefront na companies like Conoil, Seplat Energy, and Aradel Holdings. We get local capacity for our private sector to meet dis need. Dese no be emerging companies wey dey find dia footing. Dem be established operators with proven track records across Nigeria most demanding operating environments; di Niger Delta, shallow offshore, swamp terrain, aging infrastructure, security challenges, and regulatory complexity wey go test any operator for di world.
Seplat Energy and Aradel record strong production growth for di first half of 2025 — driven by fresh asset acquisitions, improved infrastructure uptime, and tighter operational discipline. Seplat don absorb ExxonMobil upstream assets and dey revive wells wey don dey idle for years. Aradel dey operate across di upstream, midstream and downstream value chain simultaneously. Conoil, one of Nigeria oldest integrated energy companies, bring decades of downstream operational experience to di table. Dese no be di balance sheets of companies wey need to dey bypassed for favour of Chinese industrial firms whose primary record of engagement for Africa na infrastructure debt, not operational partnership.
Di argument for handing Warri to foreign operators don always rest on di premise say Nigerian companies lack di technical and financial capacity to operate refinery at scale. Dat argument dey marginal ten years ago. Today e don simply false. Di same companies wey dey produce over 60 percent of Nigeria crude output, wey dey acquire billion-dollar assets from international oil companies, build gas processing facilities, operate pipeline infrastructure, and manage integrated energy portfolios na precisely di companies wey suppose dey for di room when Warri future dey decided. Not as observers. As bidders.
Dis also be question of wetin kind of industrial economy Nigeria dey build. Di Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act of 2010 na for exactly dis moment. E dey exist to ensure say as Nigeria oil and gas sector dey develop, di technical capacity, di employment, di value creation, and di institutional knowledge dey accumulate inside di country instead of flowing outward to foreign contractors and operators. Handing Warri refinery to Chinese firms under bilateral MOU without transparent, competitive process wey give Nigerian companies with demonstrated sector capacity genuine opportunity to bid, na violation of dat principle for everything but di letter of di law.
China infrastructure and industrial partnerships across Africa follow well-documented commercial logic: di projects dey done, di debt dey accumulate, and di strategic assets dey increasingly serve Chinese industrial and supply chain interests alongside, sometimes ahead of, di host nation own. Dat no be conspiracy. E be contractual reality wey any honest assessment of Belt and Road projects across di continent go confirm. Zambia experience with Chinese-financed infrastructure. Ethiopia railway. Di port deals across East and West Africa. Di pattern no dey invisible. E simply dey ignored for di urgency of getting something, anything, done.
Nigeria no need to choose between broken government-operated refinery and Chinese-managed one. Dere be third option wey di Jiaxing visit appear to don skip: transparent, competitive privatisation or long-term concession process, open to all qualified bidders, with Nigerian companies wey carry di demonstrated capacity to bid given equal access and equal consideration on di merits. Former President Obasanjo recently make di point say di NLNG, where di private sector hold 51 percent and government 49 percent, na di model wey actually work for Nigeria oil sector. Di lesson clear: not full government control, not opaque foreign partnership, but structured private sector involvement with Nigerian content at im core.
Warri refinery don consume close to $900 million for rehabilitation funds. E don dey declared operational and shut down within weeks. E don be subject of committee reports, expert panels, presidential directives, and now Chinese MOU. Wetin e never be na subject of genuine, transparent, competitive process wey ask Nigerian companies with deep sector expertise to step forward and make dia case. Local players like Seplat Energy, Aradel Holdings, and Conoil dey realign portfolios and pursue new development opportunities, reinforcing di role of indigenous operators for sustaining output growth. Dese companies no dey wait for government to hand dem opportunities. Dem dey build capacity, close deals, and run operations wey for don seem ambitious a decade ago. Di question na whether di government fit match dat ambition with procurement process wey worthy of am.
Di answer to Warri refinery no dey Jiaxing. E never be. E dey for Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Abuja; for di boardrooms of companies wey don spend decades earning di right to dey trusted with exactly dis kind of national asset. Open di process. Set di criteria. Make dem bid. Di capacity dey. Di only thing wey dey missing na di political will to use am.
Meanwhile, di Nigeria Citizens Watch for Good Governance (NCWGG) don express support for di refinery partnership, saying di agreement fit end Nigeria long-standing dependence on imported petroleum products. Chairman of di NCWGG, Collins Eshiofeh, for statement on Friday describe di Memorandum of Understanding as strategic intervention wey fit reshape Nigeria energy sector. E say di deal represent major opportunity for Nigeria to revive local refining capacity and reduce pressure on foreign exchange caused by fuel importation. According to am, Nigeria don for decades spend billions of dollars on refinery rehabilitation projects under successive administrations without achieving sustainable results. E say previous turnaround maintenance projects repeatedly fail despite huge financial commitments, leaving di country heavily dependent on imported refined petroleum products. Eshiofeh note say di involvement of established Chinese industrial firms mark significant difference from past arrangements. Di group state say di refinery partnership go beyond ordinary repairs, adding say e include plans for long-term operations, maintenance, expansion and development of petrochemical and gas-based industrial hubs. E explain say di MoU na only preliminary agreement wey aim to develop framework for future collaboration and no amount to immediate contract award or direct expenditure commitment by NNPC Ltd. Di organisation maintain say refining crude oil locally remain di only sustainable solution to Nigeria fuel import dependence, stressing say functional refineries go help conserve foreign exchange, stabilise di naira and reduce inflationary pressures. While acknowledging di contribution of Dangote Refinery to domestic refining capacity, di group say Nigeria still need efficient state-owned refineries to guarantee long-term energy security and stable fuel supply. Di CSO also commend di Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, for adopting wetin e describe as commercially driven and transparent approach to refinery rehabilitation. E say di current management don prioritise equity partnerships and shared commercial risk instead of relying solely on government-funded rehabilitation programmes. Di group further align itself with di position of di Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, wey recently endorse di refinery agreement while calling for transparency and professionalism for im execution. E urge Nigerians to support di initiative, expressing confidence say di agreement go restore confidence for Nigeria refining sector and strengthen di country economic outlook.
Do you have a news tip for NNN? Please email us at editor @ nnn.ng
