Nigeria’s downstream chaos could sink planned refinery sale
The country's four struggling refineries are to be privatised
Nigeria’s four troubled oil refineries are to be sold to the private sector, according to the petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke. She told a news agency that the process to privatise the four facilities, owned by the state’s Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), will start before the end of the first quarter of 2014, saying that the government does not want to be “in the business of running major infrastructure entities”. The refineries, which have been beset with operational problems for decades, are undergoing maintenance at present, with work on the two Port Harcourt facilities due to be completed by the end of 201
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
