Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has renewed its call on the Federal Government to privatize Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), urging that the process be transparently concluded by the first quarter of 2026.
In a statement, PETROAN’s National President, Billy Gillis-Harry, said decades of heavy public spending on the refineries have failed to translate into meaningful commercial output, describing the facilities as a long-standing drain on public finances.
He argued that continued government ownership has stalled progress in the downstream petroleum sector and must give way to private-sector efficiency.
“Sustained public funding of the refineries has failed to deliver optimal results over the years, making private sector-led management inevitable if the country is to achieve energy security and stability in the downstream petroleum sector,” Gillis-Harry stated.
According to the association, privatizing the refineries would unlock several benefits, including improved operational efficiency through modern technology and expertise, attraction of fresh private investment, reduced reliance on imported petroleum products, and conservation of foreign exchange.
PETROAN also noted that a functional, privately run refining sector would enhance fuel supply stability, create jobs across the value chain, and free up government resources for pressing needs such as security and infrastructure development.
The group stressed that a credible and transparent privatization process would bring Nigeria’s refining industry in line with global best practices, foster healthy competition, and complement ongoing investments in upstream oil and gas production.
PETROAN, further, tied its position to assumptions in the 2026 national budget, which projects crude oil production at 1.84 million barrels per day and an oil price benchmark of between $64 and $65 per barrel.
The association expressed optimism that decisive refinery reforms—combined with improved security for oil infrastructure, effective host community engagement under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), and adequately funded regulators—would significantly strengthen investor confidence and overall sector performance.
The renewed call comes amid sustained debate within Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
While NNPCL has previously resisted full privatization—particularly of the Port Harcourt refinery, which it pledged to retain and rehabilitate as recently as mid-2025—pressure from industry stakeholders has intensified, driven by decades of underperformance and economic losses.
PETROAN insisted that privatization has become critical to unlocking the full value of Nigeria’s oil and gas resources, ending the cycle of fiscal waste, and delivering a more stable and competitive downstream petroleum sector in the year ahead.
