NCDMB Acquires 20% Equity in 100,000 Bpd Refinery in Rivers

Peter Uzoho 

Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has sealed a deal to acquire 20 per cent equity in a 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery project being established by African Refinery Group Limited (ARPHL) in partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The share purchase agreement for the investment will make NCDMB a key partner in ARPHL, being co-located with Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited, operated by NNPC at Alesa Eleme, Rivers State.
NCDMB announced the deal in a statement issued yesterday by its corporate communications department.
According to the statement, Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr. Felix Ogbe, signed the agreement at the board’s liaison office in Abuja, while Managing Director, African Refinery Port Harcourt Limited, Mr. Tosin Adebajo, signed on behalf of the company. 
Ogbe stated that the equity investment was the first to be sealed under his leadership. 
He confirmed that the board subjected the proposal to rigorous technical, commercial and regulatory reviews and decision gates, in line with NCDMB’s commercial Ventures Investment Policy.
“The board has also instituted a robust corporate governance procedure that will safeguard its investment and ensure optimal performance of the refinery project,” he added.
He said the deal was part of the board’s commercial venture programme, supported by Section 70 (h) of the NOGICD Act, which says NCDMB is to “assist local contractors and Nigerian companies to develop their capabilities and capacities” in furtherance of Nigerian content development in the oil and gas industry.
The statement added, “The Board’s commercial venture investments are also geared to catalyse Federal Government’s strategic policies, provide job creation opportunities in the construction and operation phases, and add value to the nation’s hydrocarbon resources.
“The shares for the African Refinery Port Harcourt Limited project were purchased under the Nigerian Content Intervention Company LTD/GTE, a company limited by guarantee, and wholly owned by the NCDMB.

“Details of the investment indicate that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) holds a 15 per cent equity investment in the refinery project, having executed a share subscription agreement in 2024.”

Promoters of the project, African Refinery Group, had in 2016 won a competitive bid to co-locate a crude oil refinery within the site of the Port Harcourt Refinery Complex (PHRC), and it executed an agreement to run and operate a 100,000 BPD refinery on 45 hectares of vacant land within the battery limit of the refinery complex.

The company also signed a sub-lease agreement with NNPC in 2019, giving it 45.466 hectares within the refinery complex for a tenure of 64 years.

According to the investment plan, NCDMB will divest from the refinery at the end of the seventh year, counting from the commercial operations date.

NCDMB’s investments in the refining of petroleum products include the Waltersmith 5000 barrels per day (bpd) modular refinery located at Ibigwe, Imo State; Azikel Group’s 12,000 barrels per day (bpd) hydro-skimming modular refinery at Gbarain, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State; and Duport Midstream’s 2,500 bpd modular refinery at Egbokor, Edo State.

The projects are at different stages of operation and development, NCDMB said.

The board’s investment with Waltersmith modular refinery was executed in 2018, and it served as the proof of concept. It operates optimally and provides refined petroleum products to its environs, creating hundreds of direct and indirect job opportunities.

NCDMB said the project was also a commercial success, as the holding company, Waltersmith Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited, posted a profit-after-tax of N23.6 billion in April 2024, for 2023, and total dividend of N4.5 billion, pending final approval at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

NCDMB holds 30 per cent share in the company, and it received an interim dividend payment of N450 million out of the N1.5 billion that was declared for the year ended 2023.