Are you seeking accurate information on Nigerian refinery capacity? This article will explore all the refineries in Nigeria, including the newly built Dangote refinery.
Overview of Nigeria’s Oil Industry
Nigeria is one of the world’s biggest producers of crude oil. The country is also Africa’s biggest oil producer. With close to 200 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, Nigeria has the biggest natural gas reserves in Africa. 2021. As expected, the oil industry is the cornerstone of the Nigerian economy and it makes up more than half of the federal government’s earnings and a large proportion of exports. It is important to note that the mining industry in Nigeria is in its nascent state and doesn’t contribute much in terms of GDP.
Nigeria’s oil industry is plagued by corruption, mismanagement and lack of infrastructure. The biggest challenge yet is the inability to refine crude oil, characterised by a lack of working refineries, which contribute to the importation of petroleum products.
The refineries in Nigeria have the capacity to refine more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Today, these refineries are mostly inefficient and produce a very light output of 70,000 barrels daily.
List of Nigerian refineries
Here is the list of major refineries in Nigeria:
- Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Plant
- New Port Harcourt Refinery
- Kaduna Refinery
- Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Refinery
- The Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Company Refinery
- Dangote Refinery
Warri Refinery
The Warri Refinery is the first fully-owned refinery by the Nigerian government. It was approved with much fanfare in 1978.
The original plan was for the refinery to produce up to 100,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Nine years later, crude oil production capacity increased to 125,000 BPD (barrels per day).
Due to frequent shutdowns and the high cost of running, the refinery only operates at 30% capacity.
Read: List of International Airports in Nigeria
New Port Harcourt Refinery
The New Port Harcourt refinery was built in 1989 and commissioned in 1991 with a capacity to produce 150,000 barrels per day.
This is different from the old Port Harcourt refinery built-in 1965, with an installed capacity of 65,000 barrels per day. It is situated in the riverine town of Eleme.
Kaduna Refinery
The Kaduna refinery was launched in 1983, with an installed capacity of nearly 130,000 BPD. The refinery plant is managed by Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals (KRPC) Limited.
According to NNPC, the production rate of the Kaduna refinery.
No. | Product | Production Rate |
| 1 | PMS | 3,857 MT/DAY |
| 2 | KEROSENE | 1,686 MT/DAY |
| 3 | AGO [DIESEL] | 3,000 MT/DAY |
| 4 | ASPHALT | 1,796 MT/DAY |
| 5 | LAB | 91 MT/DAY |
| 6 | BASE OILS | 657 MT/DAY |
| 7 | LPG | 620 MT/DAY |
| 8 | FUEL | 2,100 MT/DAY |
Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Refinery
In 2010, the Niger Delta Petroleum Resources commissioned the first private refinery in Nigeria.
The refinery extracts diesel or automotive gas from crude oil in the Ogbele field, Rivers state. It has a capacity of 1000 barrels per day.
Read: Lists of 17 Major Mineral Resources in Nigeria
The Indorama Eleme Petrochemical Plants
Located in Eleme, River states, this plant is owned by Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited (IEPL).
It was given to them in 2006 through a privatization program by the NNPC. it produces 22,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) Butene-1, 270,000 TPA Polyethylene, and 80,000 TPA Polypropylene.
Dangote Oil Refinery
Dangote Oil Refinery is a six hundred thousand barrels per day (BPD) refinery project launched in 2023 at Lekki Free Zone close to Lagos, Nigeria. It is Africa’s largest crude oil refinery and the world’s largest single-train facility.
Pipeline Technology at Dangote Petroleum Refinery ranks as the biggest ever built in the world, with 1,100 km capable of carrying 3 Billion Standard Cubic feet of gas every day. The Refinery by itself features a 435MW Power Plant, which is capable of catering for the entire power demand of Ibadan DisCo.
The Refinery will supply the entire Nigerian demand for all petroleum products and also have an excess of all of these products for exportation. Dangote Petroleum Refinery is a multi-billion dollar venture that will result in an opportunity for $21 Billion per year of Nigerian Crude. It was built to handle Nigerian crude with the capacity to also deal with other crudes.
Edo Refinery
Edo Refinery (ERPC) is a recently established modular refinery situated in Ikpoba-Okha LGA, Edo State. It is capable of refining 6000 barrels of crude oil daily. It is an associate company of AIPCC Energy.
This innovative modular refinery is a leading privately-controlled refinery in Nigeria. It was established as a response to the country’s need to curb the importation of petroleum products and gas. The project is implemented in a two-stream refinery with 1,000 BPSD and 5,000 BPSD capacities and has been launched and is in working condition.
Waltersmith Refinery & Petrochemical Company
Waltersmith Refining & Petrochemical Company Limited (WRPC) was established in 1996 and is presently building a 50,000bpd modular refinery situated near the Ibigwe processing plant through a structured scaling blueprint. WRPC secured approval from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on 1st June 2015 and received the NUPRC’s building licence on 29th March 2017.
Opac Refinery
Opac modular refinery is located in Umuseti, Delta State. It is a game-changer for the Nigerian petroleum industry. The plant was set up and built by a team of design engineers and maintenance technicians with years of expertise in hydrocarbon refining solutions to adhere to industry best practises and regulatory demands.
The Oil Refinery Unit is a fully enclosed, air-free system that features a fire defence system (FDS). This unit consists of industrial workflows with two blocks – a heating block and a rectification block.
List of private refineries in Nigeria (ongoing construction or near completion)
| S/N | COMPANY | PLANT LOCATION | LICENSE ISSUED | CAPACITY (BPSD) | LICENSE STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niger Delta Petroleum Resources (NDPR) | Ogbelle, Rivers State | License to Operate (LTO) | 1000 | Plant is Operational |
| 2 | Amakpe International Refinery | Eket Akwa Ibom State | Approval to Construct (ATC) | 12000 | Process unit fabricated and awaiting shipment and installation. |
| 3 | Resource Petroleum & Petrochemicals Inc. | Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State | Approval to Construct (ATC) | 100000 | The license is valid. The plant is yet to be installed |
| 4 | Kainji Resources Limited | Oguta, Imo State | License to Establish (LTE) | 24000 | Licenses issued in July 2013 |
| 5 | Omega Butler Refineries Nigeria | Ikpokiri, Rivers State | License to Establish (LTE) | 20000 | Licenses issued in July 2013 |
| 6 | Dangote Industries Limited | Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos | License to Establish (LTE) | 500000 | Licenses issued in September 2014 |
Challenges and Solutions in Nigeria’s Refining Sector
Here are the challenges facing Nigeria’s refining sector:
Poor Governance
This is a major challenge that has negatively impacted the refining sector in Nigeria. Bureaucracy, corruption and lack of transparency have affected the running of Nigerian refineries. There is talk of a cartel protected by the government that has stifled every effort to rehabilitate Nigerian refineries.
Oil theft
Pipeline vandalism resulting from oil theft and militant activities in south-south Nigeria occasionally crippled Nigeria’s refining industry. Pipelines built to transport petroleum products from depots to towns which has become one of the casualties of Nigeria’s deteriorating refining industry.
Ageing infrastructure
Due to lack of turnaround and maintenance, Nigerian refineries experience poor performance. Millions of dollars have gone down the drain due to futile turnaround activities.
Here are some solutions to the challenges in the Nigerian refinery industry:
- It is important that existing public refineries should be rehabilitated and maintained to a functional state. A good way to do this is private-sector led financing and rehabilitation efforts.
- The downstream sector has to be independent of government control. Complete deregulation will encourage private investors to set up refineries to meet Nigeria’s needs. This will also create employment opportunities and improve the economy
- The government should put in place policies that will attract investments into refining in Nigeria, including fiscal policies.