₦airaland Forum

The shutting down of the Port Harcourt Refinery, the biggest refinery in the country has caused the Nigerian government over $249.7 million equivalent of N366.210 billion, in the period of five months, from May 24, 2025 to October 31, which is the period of 156 days, Daily Trust checks have revealed.

The refinery, located at Eleme axis of Rivers State, was revived on November, 2024 and commenced operations thereafter.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had stated that the revived plant has the production capacity of 60,000 barrels-per-day and was producing at least 1.4 million liters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) every day.

Also, the NNPC stated then that the refinery was producing straight-run gasoline (Naphtha) blended into 1.4 million litres of PMS daily; 900,000 litres of kerosene; 1.5 million litres of Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel); 2.1 million litres of Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO), and additional volumes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas.

Daily Trust recalls that the Federal Government had approved $1.5 billion in 2021 for the comprehensive rehabilitation of the refinery, before the NNPCL under Mele Kyari’s leadership reopened the Old Port Harcourt Refinery on Tuesday, November 26, 2024.

The Refinery was shut down on May 24, 2025, for planned maintenance and a sustainability assessment, according to NNPCL, barely six months after a previous period of operational resumption following a $1.5 billion rehabilitation project.

With the landing cost of PMS standing at N900 per liter multiplied by 1,400,000, this amounts to N1,260,000,000 daily and N196,560,000,000 (N196.560bn) in 156 days.

Also, the price of Kerosene which is N1,005 per liter multiplied by 900,000 gives N904,500,000 and N141,102,000,000 in 156 days.

Similarly, the price of Diesel which is N1,220 per liter, totalling N1,220 multiplied by 1,500,000, making N1,830,000,000 and N285,480,000,000 in the 156 days analysed by this Reporter.

The figures bring the total losses occasioned by the shutting down of the refinery to N366.210bn, equivalent of $249.7 million in five months and six days.

Why refinery was shut – NNPCL

Recently, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had disclosed that it was losing between N300 million and N500 million every month operating the Port Harcourt refinery before suspending rehabilitation works at the facility.

However, some staff in the refinery who spoke with Daily Trust on the condition of anonymity revealed that the amount could be the sum used in bringing in refined products from other refineries to Port Harcourt refinery in the name of production.

The staff who said they are barred by the management of the refinery from speaking with the press said the Port Harcourt refinery did not produce as claimed, as products were brought in from somewhere to sell out to marketers.

But the NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, while addressing a delegation from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) led by its President Festus Osifo, few weeks ago, attributed the refinery’s poor performance to years of neglect and fundamental structural problems that made profitable operations impossible.

He said: “When I resumed, one of the first priorities I focused on was the refineries, to have a quick review, to see whether we could quickly fix it.

“What I found is that we were losing between N300 million to N500 million monthly on the overall refinery. For Port Harcourt, we were sending in about 950,000 barrels as cargo, but less than 40 per cent was coming out.”


Refinery Staff speak

Some staff of the Port Harcourt refinery told Daily Trust that right from November 2024 when the NNPC claimed that the refinery was working to May 2025 when it was shut down, there was never a time the refinery produced.

A staff member, who simply identified himself as Teska, not real name, said that at a point when the information began to filter out from within the refinery, the management had to issue a circular banning any staff from speaking or granting press interviews, adding that as of the time the refinery was shut down, neither the new or old plant was working.

Daily Trust observed that the refinery had 506 staff members as of July 2025, two months after it was shut down.

He said: “They were bringing in refined products through Indorama petrochemical, they will go there and wash the fuel, and now load it through NNPC refinery, Port Harcourt, they were not refining here, to the extent that they warned the workers never to talk to the press, because at a point, the information was coming from the refinery, that the so called production is a scam, refinery workers were saying it and clearly explaining how those fuel that was sent through the refinery was being refined.

“But maybe after the maintenance, it will work this time, but I think NNPC should be sincere to Nigerians, if it doesn’t work, tell the truth, if you are able to make it work, say the truth, it’s for the collective good of Nigerians and our economy,” he said.

About five staff of the refinery who spoke with Daily Trust around the refinery host community said they were not aware if the production was going on between November 2024 to May 2025.

They added that they had seen marketers loading from the refinery, but how it was refined was not clear to them.

“You can go inside the refinery and make inquiries, they can direct you to those allowed to speak to press, but for me, I’m not aware if it was working from November 2024 to December 2025, I can’t say authoritatively, but tankers were loading from there,” one of the staff told Daily Trust.


Why govt refineries may not work – NAPO

The National Association of Plants Operators (NAPO), whose members are also working in the refinery, told Daily Trust that the challenge of competition from those running private refineries in Nigeria and outside the country would not allow public refineries to work.

The National President of NAPO, Mr Harold Benstowe, who spoke to Daily Trust on the shutting down of the Port Harcourt refinery, said if the refinery is given to good and capable companies in the country to manage, it will start to work properly.

He said: “We have companies that can manage that refinery and you will see it will start working, but as I said, the monopoly in the production of fuel in Nigeria is one of the major factors working against the functioning of the refinery, those running private refineries may not like NNPC refinery to work, not to talk about the mainstream importers of fuel that are also fighting, because the moment the refinery starts to work, it will affect all their businesses, so, what is holding that refinery is monopoly, monopoly from the major oil magnates in the country, that are benefiting from the death of refinery.

“A lot of people are cashing out from the shutting down of the refinery, you can imagine where some of these politicians will go to other countries and build refineries, they will now carry our own crude to these refineries, to their private refineries, refine and bring it back to Nigeria, and sometimes you see them, they have big vessels in the sea where they brought the refined products and sell back to Nigerians,” he said.

Similarly, Oil marketers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) had in August asked the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Bayo Ojulari, to either fix the Port Harcourt Refinery immediately or resign from his position.

The Eastern Zonal Secretary of IPMAN, Comrade Emmanuel Inimgba, in a statement following the continued shutdown of the refinery, expressed concerns over the delayed rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, a project worth $1.5 billion, which he believes is being handled unprofessionally.

Inimgba noted that the refinery’s shutdown had resulted in thousands of job losses, affecting tanker drivers, NUPENG members, PETROAN staff, IPMAN workers, and host community members.

He stated that fixing the refinery would create jobs, boost the local economy, improve fuel supply and distribution, increase government revenue, enhance energy security, and improve living standards for host community members.

Inimgba revealed that credible sources indicate contractors have withdrawn from the site due to lack of funds, and the NNPC GCEO has not visited the refinery in four months.

He stated that IPMAN has expressed support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reform agenda.

He added: “If the GCEO is unable to fix the Port Harcourt Refinery or demonstrate commitment to its rehabilitation, stakeholders and host communities will have no option but to call on President Tinubu to consider replacing him.”

…Shutdown affects Nigeria’s foreign exchange, value chain – Expert

Wumi Iledare, a Professor Emeritus of Petroleum Economics, who offered expert perspective on the implications of the Port Harcourt Refinery (PHR) shutdown in the past five months, explained that, Nigeria loses twice monthly through scarce foreign exchange spent on fuel imports and the loss in domestic value creation due to the refinery remaining idle.

The Petroleum Economic expert however, explained that a temporary shutdown may sometimes be necessary to prevent value destruction, because operating an inefficient refinery with low throughput, high energy intensity, or excessive losses can erode value faster than a well-managed maintenance shutdown.

He said: “Each month the Port Harcourt Refinery remains idle, Nigeria loses twice, first through scarce foreign exchange spent on fuel imports, and again through lost domestic value creation. Beyond the financial cost, the shutdown undermines supply security, jobs, and the learning curve for local refining efficiency.

“However, a temporary shutdown may sometimes be necessary to prevent value destruction. Operating an inefficient refinery with low throughput, high energy intensity, or excessive losses can erode value faster than a well-managed maintenance shutdown. Efficiency and effectiveness in value creation must therefore guide operational decisions, not political pressure.

“To make public refineries work, government must depoliticize their management, enforce transparent crude supply agreements, adopt performance-based operations, and publish quarterly operational dashboards. Refineries fail not for lack of patriotism but for lack of commercial discipline, governance clarity, and measurable performance accountability,” Prof. Iledare stated.

Coup Plot: Nigerian Army Raids Abuja Residence Of Buhari's Former Petroleum Minister, Timipre Sylva, Arrests Brother

Some Nigerian Army personnel have raided the Abuja residence of a former governor and former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, in connection with an alleged coup plot currently under investigation by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), SaharaReporters can report.

Multiple security sources confirmed to SaharaReporters on Tuesday that the army raid occurred at Sylva’s home in the Maitama area of Abuja.

According to insiders, a “special military team” carried out the operation after intelligence linked the “former South-South governor” to secret meetings allegedly held with some of the detained military officers.

“Nigerian Army special team ransacked the home of Timipre Sylva, who is believed to have fled Nigeria,” one top source familiar with the development told SaharaReporters.

“He is the South-South former governor frequently mentioned in the case. His brother, named Paga, was picked up during the raid. The operation also extended to his Bayelsa residence.”

Another security insider said that while no official statement had been issued regarding the raid, the action was “not random” but “a direct response to intelligence linking certain political figures to the alleged plotters."

This development comes amid growing tension within the armed forces following SaharaReporters’ exclusive report that at least 16 senior military officers had been detained incommunicado by the DIA over an alleged coup plot.

The detained officers, drawn from the Army, Navy, and Air Force, have been held for over three weeks in an undisclosed Abuja facility under what sources described as “unusual and suspicious conditions.”

Family members told SaharaReporters they initially believed their relatives had been kidnapped, as there was no official communication from the military regarding their arrests.

“It’s been 18 days since those 16 officers were detained in an undisclosed location. At first, we thought our brother was kidnapped before finding out what transpired from his friend who works in the NSA office,” a family member had said.

Security analysts have questioned why the DIA, an intelligence agency under the Ministry of Defence, is spearheading the investigation instead of allowing each military service to handle its personnel internally, a move seen as “highly political.”

“If the military were truly conducting a disciplinary operation, over 10,000 cases could emerge. Why only 16 officers, and why hand them to the DIA?” one retired officer asked. “This smells of politics. There’s clearly more going on behind the scenes.”

Speculations are now rife that the alleged plot and subsequent arrests may have deeper political undertones, potentially involving some former office holders with ties to late ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Sylva, a former governor of Bayelsa State and a close ally of late Buhari, served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources between 2019 and 2023.

He was also the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the November 2023 Bayelsa election, which he lost to incumbent Governor Douye Diri of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

"My Children Can't Get Jobs Due To My Name" – PDP Chieftain Bode George Decries Hardship

A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Bode George has disclosed that his own children are "struggling" to find employment in Nigeria simply because of his name.

Speaking on Nigeria Info FM 99.3, George lamented the widespread hunger and anger in the country, emphasising that the plight of ordinary Nigerians is what truly matters.

"Today in Nigeria, everywhere there is hunger and anger," he said.

George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, expressed concern about the bleak future facing Nigerian youth, stating, "Graduates are floating, no future, no hope; non-graduates are doing nothing."

He urged President Bola Tinubu to establish a special fund to empower young people and provide micro-credit opportunities for graduates.

"I suggested that Mr. President should set up a special fund to ensure that those guys who didn’t train in any skill can be empowered.

“Then micro-credit for young graduates who want to do one business or the other."

George also criticised the First Lady's national library initiative, suggesting that funds could be better allocated from wealthy bank donors.

“Recently, the First Lady announced that she was going to build a national library and she needed contributions.

“That fund should have been by the President asking these people in the banks, those who donated N20 billion in two days, to give that money, which will be public money, and process it through good management.

“The younger generation in this country, including my own children who graduated a long time ago, have returned and tried to get a job, but they can’t get a job because their name is Bode George,” he lamented.

Nigeria has recorded crude oil production shortfall of about 93.74 million barrels in the first eight months of 2025, raising concerns over adequate funding of the 2025 national budget.

The shortfall indicates about $6.848 shortfall in oil revenue, the key component of budgetary funding.

The price of Nigeria’s bonny light crude oil averaged $73.06 per barrel, according to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

But the revenue shortfall attributable to production shortfall would be $7.03 billion when calculated with the 2025 budget benchmark of $75 per barrel.

Data obtained from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) revealed that total crude oil and condensate output between January and August stood at 406.84 million barrels, representing a 18.27 percent deficit against the 500.58 million barrels projected in the budget for the period.

The 2025 budget was predicated on a daily crude oil production target of 2.06 million barrels, but NUPRC data showed actual output averaged 1.673 million barrels per day during the eight-month period, indicating an average shortfall of 390,000 barrels per day.

If the trend continues in the remaining four months of the year, the country would lose 47.58 million barrels in 122 days and about $3.56 billion in revenue.

The breakdown of the NUPRC data shows that the country missed its production target by 35.01 million barrels in the first quarter, Q1’25, amounting to a market value of $2.625 billion.

‘Account for missing N22.3bn, $49.7m, £14.3m, €5.2m oil money’, SERAP tells NNPCL
The shortfalls continued in the second quarter, Q2’25, with a total of 34.67 million barrels production losses valued at $2.592 billion.

The third quarter is also trending in the same direction as July data show, 10.78 million barrels ($808.5 million) and in August, 13.28 million barrels ($996 million) losses.

The Commission, in its August 2025 report to the September Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting, showed a revenue shortfall of N459.6 billion against its August 2025 budgetary target of N1.2 trillion, after remitting only N745 billion. The revenue remittance for July was N723.168 billion.

In these two months alone, the government recorded a combined revenue shortfall of N941.229 billion from the oil and gas sector.

“Total collection increased by N22.04 billion, equivalent to 3.05 percent when compared with July 2025. The increase in collection for the month of August 2025 can be attributed to a revenue drive that led to improvement in almost all the revenue heads,” the report noted.

But a breakdown, however, showed that the underperformance was driven largely by poor royalty inflows from oil and gas. While the monthly budget projected N1.144 trillion from royalties, only N682.28 billion was realised in August, leaving a gap of N461.89 billion.

So far, NUPRC said it has transferred N5.475 trillion through the Central Bank of Nigeria to the Federation Account between January and August 2025, instead of N8.433 trillion expected from the sector.

It added: “The Commission’s performance from January to August 2025 is N7.103 trillion, inclusive of NNPC Limited JV and PSC royalty receivables of N1.050 trillion for the period, as well as Project Gazelle receipts of N730.24 billion for November 2024 (received in January 2025), and from January, March to June 2025.”

Why oil, gas industry is underperforming

Despite the government’s production optimism, oil theft, pipeline vandalism and lack of investment by oil companies have been blamed for the industry failure to meet government targets for the year.

Experts who spoke to Financial Vanguard were also pessimistic about the industry capacity to significantly improve production before the end of the year.

Engr. Joe Nwakwue, Partner at Zera Advisory, said it is most unlikely for the government to achieve the projections on price and production volumes.

He stated: “It’s certainly a stretch. Most unlikely, we would achieve both volume and price targets going by current trends. However, there has been a significant uptick in non-oil revenue generation. I hope these improvements will address the shortfall in oil revenue”.

Specifically on the 2.06 million barrels per day projection, Nwakwue said: “Volume growth takes time and resources, and resources take time to mobilize”.

On his part, CEO, AHA Consultancies, Mr. Henry Adigun explained that while the country has the potential to produce two million barrels of oil per day, this was not possible in the short term.

Adigun stated that the government makes the same mistake every year when making projections by placing a target that was unlikely to be achieved.

“Every year they make false assumptions and projections that are unrealistic. This, at the end of the day, leads to poor budget performance because they don’t have the fundamentals correctly. What we expect them to use are figures that are realistic.

“It has become normal for us to overestimate the barrels that we produce and then we have to borrow money to finance the budget. They rely on false projections that are unrealistic and that are not based on any facts and figures”, he stated.

But speaking on production targets at the weekend, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, insisted that raising production to two million barrels per day was achievable before the end of the year.

Lokpobiri admitted that access to finance has hindered investment in the upstream sector especially for Nigerian companies, but stated that this was being addressed at the continental level with the establishment of the $5 billion Africa Energy Bank to be hosted in Nigeria.

“We have discovered that the biggest challenge we have in Africa is access to finance, and that is why we have come up with the African Energy Bank, which is ready to go. Nigeria, as the host country, has met its obligations.

“We have met all our obligations, legal, financial, and we are waiting for the bank to take off, which I think will take off, any moment from now.”

He said once that is done, “our target is to change the game so that we can mobilize local finances to invest in that bank, targeted at creating the best value that we can get for our own people.”

Also speaking on the issue, the Commission Chief Executive, NUPRC, Engr Gbenga Komolafe, said the national target is to reach 2.5 million barrels per day oil production.

The Commission disclosed that this year alone, it has approved 38 field development plans that have attracted $19.43 billion investment.

“Since the inception of the Commission crude oil production has increased with current average daily production of 1.65mbopd expected to increase further with the Project 1 mbopd initiative which is aimed at achieving 2.5 Mbopd in 2027 compared to NUPRC commencement”.

How to improve oil production

To boost production, Nwakwue, a former chairman of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigeria), said the “the government and the industry must collaborate to address issues and challenges around insecurity and sabotage, a more sustainable JV funding arrangement and demonstrate regulatory certainty”.

On his part, Prof Wumi Iledare said while it may be difficult to attain the production target by the end of the year and in the process meets the government’s revenue target, oil production would rise in 2026 if the government does the right things.

Iledare stated that with indigenous producers opening up some of the abandoned fields and reservoirs, production would hit 1.8 million barrels before end of the year.

“And with time, they will pick up as we continue to manage insecurity. I’m optimistic within the direction in which we are going. Not because of what an individual is doing, but because the PIA is implemented according to the intent of the law.

“You cannot have 37 billion barrels of oil and produce 1.4 million barrels per day. No, it’s too low. You are supposed to have the possibility of producing at least 3% of your 37 billion”.

“You are supposed to be able to produce three million barrels per day. When you say you have 37 billion, what it means in a technical term is that you are 90% certain, under current economic conditions and technology, to recover that in the lifetime of the reservoir and the field. So, the potential is there.

“The biggest challenge is governance of the sector. If the governance of the sector, the empowering of the institutions is implemented according to the law, 3 million is not something Nigeria cannot achieve. Two million is optimistic in December”, he stated.

Krankhead:
Eeysh sorry for your loss. Continue waiting for your obi to be ypur president in 2097