Retailers urge enforceable timelines, crude supply guarantees and penalties to ensure Port Harcourt and Warri refineries deliver.
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has backed President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to reviving Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, urging the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) to convert the plan into a binding, milestone-driven agreement.
PETROAN National President, Billy Gillis-Harry, said President Tinubu’s position that refinery performance should be measured by profitability and commercial results rather than visible activity represented a significant shift in assessing the country’s refining sector.
The association said the focus should be on measurable indicators, including throughput, availability, operating margins and return on capital, rather than ceremonial refinery restarts.
PETROAN also commended President Tinubu for accepting responsibility for the assets and liabilities inherited from previous administrations, describing continuity of obligations as essential for investor confidence.
The association noted that billions of dollars had been committed to the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries over the years, but the facilities had failed to sustain operations.
It said the Port Harcourt refinery briefly resumed operations in late 2024 before shutting down in May 2025, while an NNPC Ltd. internal assessment in February 2026 reportedly found that the plants were operating at significant losses.
According to PETROAN, the major challenge was not funding but governance, technical ownership, accountability and the absence of commercial incentives to ensure sustained operations.
The association welcomed the proposed technical equity partnership between NNPC Ltd., Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xingcheng (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Ltd., but urged the parties to move beyond the existing non-binding memorandum of understanding.
It called for a binding agreement containing clear completion timelines, throughput guarantees, availability targets and enforceable penalties for non-performance.
PETROAN also demanded transparency on the proposed equity structure, capital commitments, crude supply pricing, offtake arrangements and accumulated liabilities.
The association stressed the need for guaranteed crude supply through effective implementation of the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation under the Petroleum Industry Act, warning that a refinery without reliable crude supply would remain commercially vulnerable.
PETROAN said restoring the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries to their stated capacities of 210,000 barrels per day and 125,000 barrels per day would add 335,000 barrels per day of geographically distributed refining capacity.
It said the additional capacity would strengthen fuel supply resilience, improve competition, reduce exposure to freight and foreign exchange pressures and support retailers and consumers across the South-South and South-East.
The association also urged the government to ensure genuine transfer of technical and managerial expertise to Nigerian workers through the proposed partnership.
PETROAN maintained that successfully returning the refineries to sustainable commercial operation before the next general election could become one of the administration’s most significant economic achievements.