We’ve come with an update list of oil refineries in Nigeria and how much Nigeria makes from crude oil every year, in this post.
An oil refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and broken down into its component parts.
Oil is refined or processed because raw oil is not very useful in the natural form which it comes in out of the ground.
Since the smaller components of crude are in great demand all over the world, refineries are set up in order to convert this heavy hydrocarbon (crude oil) into lighter fractions.
In this article, we will give you a full list of refineries in Nigeria and their locations and a general knowledge of oil refineries.
Before we give you a full list of refineries in Nigeria and their locations however, we intend to give you a quick rundown of general information about refineries and their uses.
What are Oil Refineries?
Unlike breweries, An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is broken down and processed into increasingly valuable fractions like petroleum naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, black-top base, warming oil, lamp oil, melted petroleum gas, stream fuel and fuel oils.
Oil refinery facilities basically fill in as the second stage in the production process after the extraction of crude oil from its reserves through drilling rigs.
The initial phase in the refining process is distillation, where crude oil is heated at extreme temperatures to break down the crude into its component fractions.
On most occasions, there is an oil depot near an oil refinery for the storage of approaching light oil fractions such gasoline and diesel, as well as heavy fractions, for example, asphaltene and bitumen.
An oil refinery is viewed as a fundamental segment of the downstream of the petroleum industry.
As indicated by the Oil and Gas Journal, an aggregate of 636 processing plants were operated on the 31st December 2014 for a total rate of 87.75 million barrels (13,951,000 m3) in the whole world.
Jamnagar Refinery is the biggest oil refinery, since 25 December 2008, with a processing capacity of 1.24 million barrels (197,000 m3). This refinery claimed by Reliance Industries is situated in Gujarat, India.
An average oil refinery runs 24 hours daily, 365 days per year and requires an enormous number of workers.
The refineries go offline for a couple of weeks every year to undergo seasonal maintenance and other repairs.
How Many Refineries are in Nigeria?
As at the time of writing of this article, the total number of refineries in Nigeria is Five (5). All of these refineries have a cumulative capacity of 445,000 barrels of oil per day.
However, majority of these refineries are operating at a capacity of just 30% which is relatively low compared to the high demand of petroleum products in Nigeria today.
We have a full list of oil refineries in Nigeria. All you have to do is scroll down to check them out.
List of Oil Refineries In Nigeria and Who Built Them
There are as of now five oil refineries in this list of oil refineries in Nigeria; four of which are possessed by the Nigerian Government, acquired through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), while the fifth is claimed and operated by Niger Delta Petroleum Resources (NDPR).
There is also one other oil refinery which is excluded from this list of oil refineries in Nigeria.
This is on the grounds that the refinery isn’t operational yet but is however anticipated to become the greatest refinery in Nigeria as far as production is concerned.
Here are the five crude oil refineries in Nigeria, the barrels of oil they produce (daily) and the date of establishment and Location.
- Port Harcourt Refinery
- Warri Refinery
- Kaduna Refinery
- Niger Delta Petroleum Resources
- Indorama Eleme Petroleum Company Limited
PORT HARCOURT REFINERY
The Port Harcourt refinery also referred to as Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) is the first oil refinery in Nigeria and also the first on this list of oil refineries in Nigeria.
The refinery has a vision to ‘optimally process hydrocarbon into petroleum products for the benefit of all stakeholders.’
PHRC Limited, a subdivision under NNPC Port-Harcourt, is comprised of two refineries.
The old refinery dispatched in 1965 with current nameplate capacity of 60,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) which was enough to meet domestic requirements and the new refinery completed in 1989 with an installed capacity of 150,000 bpsd.
This brings the total crude processing capacity of the Port Harcourt Refinery to 210,000 bpsd. It has five (5) process areas – Areas 1-5. The new refinery is comprised of Areas 1-4 while the old refinery is Area 5.
Area 1 is comprised of the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU), where lamp fuel and Automotive Gas oil (AGO) are created as finished products.
Other moderate products from CDU are Straight – Run Naphta (SRN). Straight Run Gasoline (SRG) utilized for PMS blend.
Area 2 is comprised of Naphtha Hydrotreating unit (NHU), where naphtha is hydro-desulphurised; the Catalytic Reforming Unit (CRU), whose function is to upgrade naphtha to reformate which has a higher octane value for PMS blend.
Area 3 is comprised of a Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU), where Vacuum Gas Oil (VGO) and heavy diesel oil (HDO) are cracked to get increasingly important products, similar to FCC gasoline utilized as pms blend and Light Cycle as blend component for LPFO and LPG.
Area 4 has three process units in particular Dimersol, Butamer Isomerisation and Alkylation units. The units are intended to create high octane gasoline blend component.
Area 5, which is the old refinery, is comprised of the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU); the Platform Unit (CRU), the LPG Unit, just as utilities segment.
The products from this refinery includes Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Kerosene (aviation and domestic), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO – diesel), Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) and High Pour Fuel Oil (HPFO) etc.
WARRI REFINERY
The mission of the Warri refinery also known as Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) is ‘To efficiently and profitably process crude oil into petroleum products, manufacture and market petrochemical products through effective resource utilization, while exploiting new business opportunities.’
Warri refinery is the second refinery on this list of oil refineries in Nigeria. It is however the principal Nigerian government fully owned refinery was completed and commissioned in 1978.
It was worked to process 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day yet was later de-bottle-necked to process 125,000 barrels per day in 1987.
Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company was joined as a limited liability company on the third of November 1988 after the merger of the then Warri Refinery and the Ekpan Petrochemical Plants.
The refinery was installed as a complex refining plant equipped for delivering Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), and Fuel Oil from a blend of Escravos and Ughelli crude oils.
WRPC has a petrochemical plant complex that produces Polyproylene, and carbon black from the propylene-rich feed-stock and tap oil from the Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit (FCCU).
The refinery is situated at Ekpan, Warri, Delta State, and it is operated by the Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC) Limited, a NNPC subsidiary.
KADUNA REFINERY
The decision to build the third Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) refinery in Kaduna was taken in 1974 alongside that of the second NNPC refinery situated at Warri.
It was however decided that work on the construction of the third refinery would only start when the demand for petroleum product in Nigeria requires it.
The development plans for the Kaduna refinery was altered as it was first intended to be essentially a hydro skimming type refinery, but later developed into an integrated refinery.
The third refinery on this list of oil refineries in Nigeria was finished and the Fuels Plant was commissioned in 1980. The Lubes Plant was completed in 1983 and Petrochemical Plant later in 1988
Units In the Kaduna Refinery
KRPC’s operation is subject to sufficient supply of water and power for these units.
Water is acquired from Kaduna River at the Raw Water Intake facilities situated at around 13 kilometers from KRPC installations.
- Fuels Process Plant
The Fuels Plant of KRPC is designed to process Nigerian crude oils in the No.1 Crude Atmospheric and Vacuum distillation Units (CDU 1).
The remainder of the Fuels area is designed to process a mixture of light and medium fractions from the domestic crude just as from the imported crude oil utilized in the Lubes Plant.
Products from the Fuels Plant are: Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG), Premium Motors Spirit (PMS), Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) for household and aviation utilization, Gas Oils, Fuel Oils and Sulfur Flakes.
- Lubes Process Plant
The Lubes Plant, comprise of eight (8) units and has the capacity to process 50,000 BPSD of imported crude oil into Lube base oils, Asphalt and waxes.
Sulfur is likewise delivered from the off gases got from the imported crude.
- Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) Process Plant
The plant has a capacity to produce 30,000 metric tons of Linear Alkyl Benzene a year, enabling Nigeria to substantially reduce import of this product for the local manufacture of detergents.
NIGER DELTA PETROLEUM RESOURCES
The NDPR refinery is the fourth refinery on this list of oil refineries in Nigeria. It is a 1,000 barrels per day plant located at Ogbelle, Rivers State.
The plant is targeted at the production of diesel for its internal consumption by the nearest communities and the excess is sold to immediate locality.
The supply of crude is obtained from the crude produced from marginal fields which are not economically viable for most of the major oil companies in Nigeria such as Shell, Chevron and Mobil.
The plant receives crude oil from the flow station operated by its upstream affiliate, the Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Company, within its marginal field.
INDORAMA ELEME PETROCHEMICALS COMPANY LIMITED
The Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited (IEPL), is the last refinery on this list of oil refineries in Nigeria.
Usually referred as Eleme petrochemicals Company Limited (EPCL) was procured in 2006 from the NNPC during the privatization program by Indorama as the major investors.
The complex is situated at Eleme, Rivers State, and has 22,000 tons per annum (TPA) Butene-1, 270,000 TPA Polyethylene, and 80,000 TPA Polypropylene plants that process petroleum gas fluids (NGL) from Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and propylene-rich feed from Port Harcourt refinery to create a scope of Polyethylene and Polypropylene products.
IEPL restored the already under-used plant, and through judicious management has throughout the years balanced out petrochemicals production and is very nearly growing the plant complex.
NIGERIAN REFINERY UPDATE:
Dangote refinery is not included in the list of oil refineries in Nigeria. This is because the refinery is an ongoing project still in construction.
It is however worthy of a mention because of its potential to become one of the biggest refineries in the world.
Though not yet in operation, Dangote refinery is a 650,000 barrels per day (which is one of the largest production rate in the world) integrated refinery and petrochemical project under construction in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos, Nigeria.
Dangote Oil Refinery, Lagos is developing the project with an estimated investment worth over $12bn.
We cannot but stress the fact this refinery will be a boost to the Nigerian economy upon completion and start of operation. The project is expected to generate 9,500 direct and 25,000 indirect jobs.
By the end of 2020, Dangote refinery will surely be on top of our list of oil refineries in Nigeria for sure.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has also outlined plans for the construction of new refineries in Nigeria. Modular refinery in Nigeria, which its component parts/facilities can be transported all across the Nation is a welcome development.
History of Oil In Nigeria
After educating you by putting you through the list of oil refineries in Nigeria, it is relevant to give you a brief history of how it all started.
Crude oil is definitely one of the top 20 mineral resources in Nigeria and the history of oil exploration in Nigeria goes back to 1903 when Nigerian Bitumen Corporation led exploratory work in the nation.
At the beginning of World War I the corporations operations were halted.
Because of the absence of innovative and financial assets by the minor oil companies, major oil companies assumed control over the exploration of commercial oil in the nation.
From that point, licenses were given to D’Arcy Exploration Company and Whitehall Petroleum yet neither of the companies discovered oil of commercial value.
This forced them to return their licenses in 1923. Another license covering 920,000 square kilometers (357,000 square miles) was issued to Shell D’arcy Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, a consortium of Shell and British Petroleum. The company started exploratory work in 1937.
The consortium was issued license to explore oil throughout the Nigerian domain. However, the land apportioned to the company in the first license was reduced in 1951 and later between 1955 and 1957.
Drilling operations began in 1951, with the pioneer test well drilled in Owerri region. Oil was found in non-commercial volume at Akata, close Eket in 1953.
Preceding the Akata discovery, the company had spent around 6 million pounds on exploratory exercises in the nation.
Shell-BP in the quest for commercially viable quantity of petroleum discovered oil in Oloibiri, Nigeria in 1956. Other significant oil wells found during the period were Afam and Bomu in Ogoni region.
Production of crude oil commenced in 1957 and in 1960, an aggregate of 847,000 tons of unrefined crude was exported.
Towards the end of the 1950s, non-British firms were granted a license to explore for oil: Mobil in 1955, Tenneco in 1960, Gulf Oil and later Chevron in 1961, Agip in 1962, and Elf in 1962.
Today, Nigeria as a country has so much benefited from crude oil but wouldn’t you say it is a boom that has become our doom?
Economic Importance of Petroleum In Nigeria
It is an obvious fact that petroleum has a lot of impact on key indicators of economic development of a nation including Gross Development Product, foreign reserves, employment creation, and energy supply and so on.
According to research, oil prices affect 96% of transportation which results in higher price of food.
It also has a direct impact of about 43% of industrial outputs. 21% of residential and commercial use and also 3% of electric power.
Just from the data provided above, its easy to see that higher cost of crude results in higher cost of virtually everything you buy, thereby creating inflation.
nnpcAdding the Dangote refinery(once its operational) to the list of oil refineries in Nigeria, you can imagine how much higher these numbers would soar.
The economic importance of petroleum is that it is the most important source of energy in Nigeria and countless other industries such as soap, plastic, gum and so on. This makes petroleum indispensable for Nigeria and any other nation.
How Much Does Nigeria Make From Oil Annually
According to the economic report for the fourth quarter of 2018 (Q4’18) released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), total oil revenue rose by 129 percent to N9.4 trillion in 2018 from N4.1 trillion in 2017.
Oil Refineries In Nigeria Summary
In this article, we have enlightened you about refineries, their functions, number of oil refineries in Nigeria, location of Nigerian refineries and also the importance of the petroleum industry to the Nigerian economy.
We also gave you an insight to the Dangote refinery which is not included in the list of oil refineries in Nigeria because it is not operational yet. But
when it does, its not just going to boost the Nigerian economy by providing millions of jobs but also efficient crude refining on a large scale.
If you find this list of oil refineries in Nigeria useful and helpful, let others know about it by kindly sharing on your various social media platforms and leave a comment below.
