President Bola Tinubu has reaffirmed his commitment to rehabilitating and repositioning Nigeria’s dormant national refineries, declaring that the facilities will not be allowed to become stranded investments amid the growing capacity of private refiners.

Tinubu, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Patience Oyekunle, stated this on Monday at the 20th OTL Africa Downstream Energy Week in Lagos, where he outlined the government’s priorities for the petroleum industry.

The Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries, being managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, have remained moribund despite billions of naira spent on turnaround maintenance over the years.

The current NNPC leadership has signed a memorandum of understanding with two Chinese firms for the revamp of the facilities.

Speaking at OTL conference, Tinubu said the government was pursuing a more rigorous and commercially sustainable approach to the rehabilitation of the national refineries, with technical assessments, stronger partnerships and improved operational discipline expected to guide the process.

“At the same time, the government remains committed to ensuring that existing national refining assets are not allowed to become stranded investments.

“We are pursuing a more rigorous, commercially sustainable approach to the rehabilitation and repositioning of our refineries, supported by technical assessment, stronger partnerships, and improved operational discipline," she stated.

Tinubu emphasised that the objective is to ensure Nigeria refines more of its crude and a fuel supplier to other nations.

“Our objective is clear. Nigeria must first refine more of its crudes, create more value domestically, and become a reliable supplier of energy to Africa,” he said.

The President’s position comes as Nigeria seeks to increase domestic refining capacity and reduce its historical dependence on imported petroleum products, despite having substantial crude oil resources.

He said the country was transitioning from an industry historically characterised by import dependence and infrastructure constraints to one increasingly driven by domestic refining, private investment, market efficiency, value addition and regional competitiveness.

According to him, the reforms introduced under the Petroleum Industry Act are intended to create a transparent, commercially viable and investment-friendly industry capable of delivering greater value to Nigerians.

“The reforms under the PIA are designed to create a petroleum industry that is transparent, commercially viable, investment-friendly, and capable of delivering value to Nigerians. Today, we are beginning to see the results,” he said.

Tinubu described the emergence of large-scale private refining capacity as an important turning point for Nigeria’s petroleum industry, citing the Dangote Petroleum Refinery as a major development in the country’s ambition to become a net exporter of refined petroleum products.

He said the refinery had reached its nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, strengthening Nigeria’s prospects of supplying refined products to other African countries.

“The emergence of large-scale private refining capacity represents an important turning point. The Dangote refinery has reached its 650,000-per-day main-plate capacity, strengthening Nigeria’s prospect of becoming a net exporter of refined petroleum products and creating opportunities for regional supply,” he said.

The president said the government’s ambition extended beyond increasing crude oil production, stressing that Nigeria needed to develop an energy economy in which its petroleum resources would support industrialisation, manufacturing and other productive activities.

For decades, Nigeria exported crude oil while importing a substantial portion of the petroleum products required to power its economy. Tinubu said his administration wanted to change that pattern by retaining more value within the country through refining, petrochemicals, gas processing and other energy-intensive industries.

He said the government was also seeking to ensure that the country’s oil and gas resources translated into jobs, investment, technology and broader economic prosperity.

“Our commitment is therefore not to simply produce hydrocarbons. It is to create an ecosystem in which hydrocarbons catalyse industrialisation, jobs, investment, technology, and prosperity,” he said.

Tinubu also called on operators across the petroleum value chain to contribute more to domestic industrial development, particularly through investment in local content, technology, infrastructure and human capital.

He said industry stakeholders were expected to take greater responsibility for environmental protection and community development, warning that extracting resources without creating additional value was no longer consistent with the government’s expectations.

“To our industry stakeholders, I say, the era of extracting value without building value is changing. We expect greater investment in local content, technology, infrastructure, human capital, environmental responsibilities, and boost community development,” he said.

The president further urged investors to take advantage of opportunities in Nigeria’s petroleum industry, saying the country remained open to businesses with the technical competence and financial capacity to develop its oil and gas resources.

In his opening speech, the Chairman of the OTL Advisory Board, Adetunji Oyebanji, said Africa’s downstream petroleum industry had made significant progress since the organisation began in 2007, with developments in refining, logistics and market liberalisation expanding the continent’s capacity to meet its energy needs.

Oyebanji said the emergence of large-scale private refining in Nigeria, particularly the Dangote refinery, had changed the prospects for domestic petroleum supply and regional trade.