The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has thrown its weight behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s pledge to revive Nigeria’s refineries, while calling on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) to translate the plan into a binding, milestone-driven execution agreement.
PETROAN hailed the President’s insistence that refinery performance must be measured by commercial results rather than symbolic activity, describing his remark that “ordinary flame and smoke of a refinery doesn’t mean it’s working” as a major shift in Nigeria’s refining discourse.
National President Billy Gillis-Harry said the association supports a fresh approach to refinery rehabilitation, noting that past interventions worth over $7 billion failed to deliver sustainable results. PETROAN stressed that governance, accountability, and enforceable commitments — not funding alone — are critical to success.
“Technical partners do not price political sentiment. They price contractual certainty and the willingness of a sovereign to own inherited commitments,” the association stated.
Despite the rise of private refining capacity, PETROAN argued that restoring state-owned refineries remains vital for supply resilience. It noted that Nigeria’s petrol import bill dropped from N2.27 trillion in Q1 2025 to N87.4 billion in Q1 2026, with domestic refineries supplying nearly 77% of national petrol volumes.
However, the association warned that reliance on a limited number of suppliers poses new risks, urging the restoration of Port Harcourt (210,000 bpd) and Warri (125,000 bpd) refineries to add 335,000 barrels per day of distributed capacity.
On the proposed technical equity partnership between NNPC Ltd. and Chinese firms Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xingcheng (Fuzhou) Industrial Park, PETROAN welcomed the initiative but cautioned that the April 2026 MoU remains non-binding.
The association demanded its conversion into a binding agreement with defined completion dates, throughput guarantees, availability thresholds, and enforceable penalties for non-performance. It also called for transparency on equity structure, capital commitments, crude supply pricing, and liabilities.
“A refinery without secured crude is a stranded asset with better paperwork,” PETROAN warned, insisting on guaranteed crude supply under the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation in the Petroleum Industry Act.
PETROAN emphasized that functional refineries would benefit retailers and consumers by shortening supply routes, reducing exposure to freight and forex volatility, and creating a more competitive downstream market. It highlighted the potential employment impact, describing the Port Harcourt and Warri corridors as industrial anchors for contractors, artisans, and small businesses.
The association concluded that bringing the refineries into sustainable operation before the next general election could stand as one of the Tinubu administration’s most consequential economic achievements.
