Commercial crude oil production started in Nigeria in 1956 but local crude oil refining did not start until 1965 when the first crude oil refinery was commissioned.
The first set of refineries in Nigeria were government-owned.
However, since 2013, the federal government has been providing private sector players with licenses to build and own petroleum refineries.
The administration of President Buhari introduced the modular refinery initiative to ramp up the nation’s refining capacity and meet local demand.
Below is a list of the completed refineries in Nigeria and their capacity
Edo Refinery and Petro Chemical Company– This project is a wholly owned subsidiary of AIPCC Energy. It operates in two phases with capacities of 1,000 BPSD and 5,000 BPSD and has been commissioned and is fully operational. Work on Phase 2, which will have a capacity of 12,000 BPD, has already begun, with full operations expected to start in 2024.
Duport Midstream– Located in Edo State, this is a 2,500-BPD refinery that was completed in 2022 and started production in 2023.
Walter Smith refinery– The Walter Smith refinery is a 5,000-bpd oil refinery located in Imo State. The refinery started operations in 2020, with plans to expand its capacity to 50,000 bpd in the coming years.
OPAC Refinery, Delta state– This 10,000-bpd modular refinery located in Kwale, Delta state was completed in 2021 as part of the federal government’s effort to improve local crude oil refining.
Niger Delta Petroleum Refinery (Aradel)– The initial 1,000 bbls/day AGO topping plant was commissioned in 2010. Currently, the 3-train, 11,000 bbls/day modular refinery produces Automotive Gas Oil, Dual Purpose Kerosene, Marine Diesel Oil, High-Pour Fuel Oil, and Naphtha.
Old Port-Harcourt refinery– Built and commissioned in 1965 with a refining capacity of 60,000 barrels of oil per day. Then, it cost Shell BP around £12 million to build. The refinery operated above 50% of its design capacity, and throughout the 1990s, it experienced a gradual decline in output.
In March 2021, the federal government awarded the repair of the refinery to Tecnimont SPA- an Italian company that would carry out repair works in phases. In December last year, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Sen.Keineken Lokpobiri announced the mechanical completion and flare startup of the refinery.
Kaduna refinery– This refinery has a capacity of 110,000 barrels per day (bpd). It was built in 1976 at a cost of $525 million. Like all other government-owned refineries, it has, over time, produced below its capacity. In 2021, the federal government approved a contract for the turnaround maintenance of the refinery at a cost of $586 million
Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC)– The 125,000-bpd capacity WRPC was built and commissioned in 1978 at a cost of around $478 million. The refinery has never achieved full capacity utilization as production has declined steadily except in the early 1990’s, during which there was a brief upswing in production.
In 2021, the federal government awarded the contract for the repair of the decrepit refinery to Saipem SPA at a cost of $897 million.
New Port-Harcourt refinery– In 1985, the federal government commissioned the New Port Harcourt refinery, built at a cost of $850 million. It has the capacity to refine 150,000 barrels of oil daily. The commissioning of the New Port Harcourt refinery increased the total refining capacity of the plants to 210,000 barrels per day.
Recent processing performance has fallen significantly below design capabilities in both refinery throughput and the yield of higher-value products. The refinery has rarely operated above 50% of its design capacity. During the 1990s, it experienced a gradual decline in throughput, resulting in a proportionate increase in the yields of lower-value fuel oil products.
The refinery was part of the $1.5 billion turnaround maintenance awarded by the federal government to Tecnimont SPA in 2021 to be fully completed in about 44 months.
Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE- This is a 650,000-bpd refinery located in Lekki, Lagos state. The refinery cost around $19 billion and was commissioned in May 2023. Oil refining started in late December 2023, and it started dispensing products to local and international markets as of May 2024.
