NNPC Signs New Chinese Deal to Rescue Port Harcourt, Warri Refineries After $2.39bn Spent, No Luck

There may finally be a flicker of hope for Nigeria’s long-suffering refining sector as Akahi News can report that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with two Chinese firms. The deal with Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xingcheng (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Ltd is aimed at securing a Technical Equity Partnership to complete and operate the Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries.

Akahi News learnt that the MoU was signed in Jiaxing City, China, on Thursday, April 30, 2026, by NNPC Group CEO Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari alongside Chinese chairmen Guan Jianzhong and Bill Bi. But beneath the handshakes and polished statements lies a painful history that no Nigerian can afford to forget.

$2.39bn Already Spent Under Buhari – Where Did the Money Go?

The numbers are staggering enough to make any citizen weep. According to Akahi News findings, the federal government had already sunk $2.39 billion into repairing the same two refineries during the Muhammadu Buhari administration. The Port Harcourt Refinery was even declared completed, with production proudly announced in November 2024. But after just six months, it was shut down.

Six months. That is all Nigerians got for billions of dollars.

Let that sink in. A nation that imports nearly all its refined fuel, a nation where petrol queues have become a tragic national ritual, watched yet another refinery dream collapse. And now, the NNPC is going back to Chinese partners. The question every Nigerian must ask is simple: what will be different this time?

A History of Billions: The Full Timeline of Broken Promises

To understand the gravity of this moment, one must revisit the trail of abandoned hopes. Back in March 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery. Then, in August 2021, another $1.48 billion was approved for the Warri and Kaduna refineries.

At the time, the then Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, announced that Warri and Kaduna would be handled by Messers Saipem SPA and Saipem Contracting Limited. The breakdown was telling: $897,678,800 for Warri, and $586,902,256 for Kaduna. The completion timeline was spread over 77 months—more than six years.

Today, where are those refineries? Akahi News gathered that the Port Harcourt plant, which was said to have started production in November 2024, went silent after just half a year. Warri and Kaduna remain largely where they were—in the realm of press releases and faded hopes.

What the New Chinese Deal Actually Means (And What It Doesn’t)

NNPC’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh, issued a statement describing the MoU as a significant milestone following more than six months of engagement between Nigerian and Chinese technical teams. Group CEO Ojulari spoke of “mutually beneficial opportunities” and “long-term sustainable profitability.”

But here is the catch that should worry every Nigerian. Nowhere in the statement did anyone mention how much Nigeria would pay for this new rehabilitation. Not a single figure. Not a naira. Not a dollar.

Ojulari said the MoU is an important step towards identifying potential technical equity partners to restart and expand NNPC’s refineries, and to explore opportunities in petrochemicals and gas-based industries. That sounds promising. But Nigerians have heard promising before. They have heard “completed” before. They have heard “production has started” before. And they have been disappointed before.

Why This Matters to Every Nigerian – Not Just Oil Executives

Imagine a Nigeria where fuel is refined locally. Where queues disappear. Where the naira is not held hostage by foreign exchange for petrol imports. Where the subsidy debate becomes a relic of history. That is the dream that has been sold to Nigerians for decades.

And yet, here we are. Importing fuel. Subsidising consumption. Watching billions of dollars vanish into refineries that refuse to live.

Akahi News believes that the average Nigerian has every right to be skeptical. A philosopher once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Nigeria has tried foreign contractors. It has tried sole funding. It has tried turnkey projects. Now it is trying Chinese technical equity partnership. Will this be the turning point, or just another chapter in the nation’s saddest story?

A Philosophical Reflection for the Common Man

The farmer in Benue does not care about MoUs. The trader in Onitsha does not celebrate technical equity partnerships. The mother in Kano who queues for kerosene just wants to cook dinner without tears in her eyes. They want results. They want the refineries to work. They want petrol to be affordable and available.

It is not too much to ask. It is the bare minimum of governance.

So as Akahi News watches this Chinese deal unfold, the question remains etched in the hearts of millions: will this time be different? Or will yet another set of billions join the graveyard of Nigerian oil dreams?

Only time will tell. But time, as Nigerians know too well, is not always on their side.

📌 Key Summary Box – What You Must Know

• ✔ NNPC has signed an MoU with two Chinese firms – Sanjiang Chemical and Xingcheng Industrial Park – for technical equity partnership to complete Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
• ✔ The federal government had already spent $2.39 billion under the Buhari administration on the same refineries.
• ✔ Port Harcourt Refinery was declared completed in November 2024 but shut down after only six months of operation.
• ✔ FEC approved $1.5 billion for Port Harcourt (March 2021) and $1.48 billion for Warri/Kaduna (August 2021).
• ✔ The new MoU did not disclose how much Nigeria will pay the Chinese partners this time.
• ✔ For Nigerians: Success of these refineries would mean an end to fuel importation, lower petrol prices, and naira stability. Failure would mean more billions wasted and endless queues.