Port Harcourt Refinery Continues to Supply Diesel Despite Shutdown
- Despite being shut down, Port Harcourt Refinery still evacuates diesel nationwide
- The refinery's maintenance shutdown has lasted over seven months, raising transparency concerns
- Calls for privatisation intensify amid ongoing losses and inefficiencies in Nigeria's state-owned refineries
The Port Harcourt Refining Company may be officially shut down, but diesel from the facility is still finding its way into Nigeria’s energy market.
Fresh data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) shows that the refinery continues to supply an average of 349,000 litres of automotive gas oil daily, even after operations were halted.
Source: UGC
According to the regulator’s latest figures published on its website, the diesel currently being evacuated was produced before the refinery was shut down by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited on May 24, 2025.
As of November, trucks were still lifting the product into the market, despite the facility remaining inactive.
No production, only evacuation
The NMDPRA was clear that no refining activities are currently taking place at the Port Harcourt plant. Instead, the diesel supply comes entirely from stocks produced before the shutdown.
“No production activities as the Port Harcourt refinery remained in shutdown mode.
However, evacuation of AGO produced while the refinery was operational before 24th May 2025 continued at an average of 0.349 million litres per day,” the agency stated.
The ongoing evacuation highlights how significant volumes of fuel were produced before operations were suspended, even as questions linger about why the maintenance shutdown has dragged on far longer than originally announced.
A one-month shutdown that stretched into seven
When the refinery was taken offline in May, the shutdown was initially billed as a brief maintenance exercise.
The then Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, told journalists on May 23 that the exercise would last just one month.
According to a Punch report, an official statement the following day confirmed the shutdown. More than seven months later, the refinery is yet to resume production, raising concerns about planning, transparency and the true state of Nigeria’s state-owned refining assets.
From grand reopening to another lockdown
The Port Harcourt refinery was declared operational in November 2024 by former NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, after years of dormancy. At the time, the company said the rehabilitated 60,000-barrel-per-day facility was running at 70 per cent capacity.
Officials projected daily outputs of 1.5 million litres of diesel, 2.1 million litres of low-pour fuel oil, 1.4 million litres of petrol, 900,000 litres of kerosene, and about 200 truckloads of petrol entering the market each day.
Yet barely six months later, the refinery was shut again. A similar fate befell the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, which reopened in December only to be shut down a month later.
Losses, reviews and a privatisation push
NNPC’s new Group Chief Executive, Bayo Ojulari, later revealed that the Port Harcourt refinery was running at a massive loss.
He disclosed that the company was losing between $300 million and $500 million monthly, processing less than 40% of the crude it consumed.
Rather than continue the losses, Ojulari said the decision was taken to halt operations and review options for making the refinery sustainable.
Meanwhile, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria has renewed calls for the privatisation of Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries, urging the government to conclude the process by early 2026.
The association argues that privatisation would end recurring losses, attract private investment and improve efficiency.
Despite these calls, Ojulari has maintained that selling the refineries is not the plan, insisting that ongoing technical and commercial reviews aim to reposition them as profitable, revenue-generating assets for Nigeria’s fuel future.
Source: Getty Images
The development comes as the Dangote Refinery resumed free fuel delivery nationwide.
The mega refinery said it plans to cut logistic costs for end-users with its new fuel delivery scheme.
Dangote Refinery crashes petrol prices by N200
Legit.ng earlier reported that Dangote Petroleum Refinery has closed 2025 with a dramatic year-on-year reduction in petrol prices, cutting its ex-depot rate by ₦200.50 per litre and reinforcing its growing influence over Nigeria’s downstream market.
The move marks one of the sharpest sustained price compressions in recent years and highlights how local refining is reshaping fuel economics.
Data compiled from Petroleumprice.ng show that on December 19, 2024, Dangote Refinery sold premium motor spirit (PMS) at an opening ex-depot price of ₦899.50 per litre, following an earlier adjustment from ₦970 per litre.
Source: Legit.ng
