KEY POINTS
- The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited signed a deal with Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xingcheng (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Ltd to revive the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
- The agreement introduces a technical equity model focused on shared investment, operations, and performance-based returns.
- The plan also includes refinery expansion into integrated petrochemical and gas-based industrial hubs to boost Nigeria’s energy and manufacturing capacity.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC, has entered into a new agreement with two Chinese firms in a renewed effort to revive Nigeria’s long-dormant refining assets in Port Harcourt and Warri.
The arrangement, signed as a Memorandum of Understanding, was concluded with Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xingcheng (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Ltd in Jiaxing City, China, and is intended to establish a technical equity partnership that will support the completion, restart, and long-term commercial operation of the refineries, which have struggled for years with underperformance and repeated rehabilitation failures.
Under the proposed collaboration, the Chinese partners are expected to provide engineering expertise, operational management support, and possible investment backing aimed not only at restarting refinery production but also at expanding capacity and improving efficiency.
The partnership is also expected to modernise the facilities in line with global standards by introducing cleaner fuel production systems and integrating petrochemical and gas-based industrial operations, a shift that NNPC says could transform the refineries into broader energy hubs capable of supporting manufacturing and export-driven industries.
NNPC Shifts From Turnaround Maintenance to Performance-Based Model
The agreement signals a strategic departure from Nigeria’s traditional refinery rehabilitation approach, which has historically relied on government-led turnaround maintenance projects that often failed to deliver sustainable output. Instead, the new model ties partner returns to refinery performance, ensuring shared risk and accountability.
According to the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC, the goal is to move toward a system where technical partners are directly responsible for operational success, while also contributing to co-located industrial development such as petrochemical and gas processing hubs.
