The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, PETROAN, has called for guaranteed crude oil supply before the planned restart of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, warning that rehabilitation alone will not guarantee sustained operations.
The association said the success of the refineries should be judged by their ability to operate consistently and profitably, rather than by commissioning ceremonies or the mere resumption of production. PETROAN National President, Dr Billy Gillis-Harry, said key performance indicators should include crude throughput, plant availability, operating margins and returns on capital.
PETROAN also urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC Ltd, to translate its refinery plans into binding commercial agreements containing clear completion timelines, throughput guarantees and enforceable penalties for non-performance.
The call comes amid concerns over Nigeria’s ability to consistently deliver crude to local refineries. Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission showed that 61.9 million barrels of crude were allocated to domestic refineries in the first quarter of 2026, but only 28.5 million barrels were actually delivered.
The association consequently called for strict implementation of the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation under the Petroleum Industry Act, alongside transparent crude-pricing mechanisms and reliable infrastructure for crude evacuation. It warned that without dependable feedstock, refinery rehabilitation could leave Nigeria with expensive assets that cannot sustain commercial production.
The potential return of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries would restore about 335,000 barrels per day of refining capacity, with Port Harcourt accounting for about 210,000 bpd and Warri 125,000 bpd. PETROAN said their revival could strengthen competition, diversify supply sources and provide additional resilience whenever other domestic refineries undergo maintenance or operational disruptions.
The association noted that Nigeria’s reliance on imported petrol has already declined sharply as domestic refining expands. It said petrol imports fell from N2.271 trillion in the first quarter of 2025 to N87.4 billion in the corresponding period of 2026, while domestic refineries supplied about 76.7 per cent of national petrol volumes during the quarter.
However, PETROAN said the country’s long history of refinery rehabilitation showed that the challenge extended beyond funding, pointing to governance, technical management, accountability and commercial incentives. It said about $4.15 billion was spent on interventions involving the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries between 1993 and 2019, with another $3.14 billion intervention package approved in 2021.
The Port Harcourt refinery resumed operations briefly in late 2024 before shutting down on May 24, 2025, for maintenance initially scheduled to last 30 days. Against this background, PETROAN wants the proposed technical equity partnership between NNPC Ltd and Chinese companies to move beyond a memorandum of understanding into a binding commercial agreement.
The association wants the agreement to provide for guaranteed crude supply, completion deadlines, throughput and availability targets, liquidated damages for non-performance, disclosure of equity and capital commitments, independent technical due diligence and effective transfer of operational expertise to Nigerian engineers. It also stressed the need for improved product evacuation infrastructure to ensure that restored refining capacity translates into sustained and commercially viable output.