NNPCL Lost N500m Monthly on Failed Port Harcourt Refinery, Which Produced Less Than 40% Output — Bayo Ojulari

Ojulari spoke on Thursday in Abuja when he received a delegation from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), led by Festus Osifo, its president.

In his statement, published by TheCable, he said that rehabilitating the refinery has been challenging due to years of neglect.

“When you fix one thing, the other thing is still there. So, it’s been very difficult to get it,” Ojulari said.

Ojulari explained that when the NNPC looked at the inputs and outputs, the mass balance showed that less than 40 per cent of what was going in was coming out.

“Then you also found that we were producing mid-grade product because only half of the refinery was working,” he said.

The NNPC boss added that attempts to revamp the old refinery were not optimal, resulting in significant losses.

“That’s why we could not properly produce premium motor spirit (PMS). But also, the mid-grade product we were producing was at a significant loss to all of us. We’re all Nigerians. It’s not about me or anything. That was the problem.

Ojulari said the company eventually decided to halt rehabilitation at the refinery, adding that “we’ve been working assiduously to quickly find a way.”

He also stressed that Bola Tinubu had not put political pressure on him to run the refinery at a loss.