The managing director of the public company Nigerian Petroleum Company (NNPC), Bashir Ojulari, confirmed during Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) 2026 in Abuja, which the company is in advanced discussions with a Chinese company for the takeover operational of one of its refineries.

The Nigerian public oil company operates a major shift by turning to foreign industrial partners. En Indeed, the NNPC is looking for partners with proven experience in the industrial operation of refineries, as shareholders and operators, in order to straighten out the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna sites, with a cumulative capacity of 445,000 barrels per day. A technical review and commercial was launched in October 2025 to select investors capable of acquiring capital and managing according to standards internationals.

The NNPC states that it does not plan to sell its refineries, but rather to sell part of their capital to partners, so that they can finance themselves and achieve profitability. This reorientation is coming as the gradual commissioning of the Dangote private refinery (650,000 barrels per day) offers a break temporary to the domestic fuel supply. She also signs up in a broader reform of the NNPC business model, which aims to reduce its dependence on the federal budget and to mobilize up to 30 billion USD of funding by 2027.

If partnerships with Chinese operators are In concrete terms, the NNPC hopes to sustainably reduce imports of fuels, and, in the medium term, reposition the country as an exporter of refined products. In the short term, however, the increase in the tax on imported fuels could increase inflationary pressures and social.