On a river bank deep in the Niger Delta a local contractor is building one of a growing number of mini refineries that the Nigerian government hopes will finally help wean Africa’s biggest economy off foreign fuel.
The continent’s most prolific oil producer has almost no refining capacity, so for decades it has shipped its own crude abroad for processing, while importing and subsidizing the finished product. That eats away at the budget, especially when oil prices rise and sales dip. The government aims to end the practice primarily via billionaire Aliko Dangote’s 650,000 barrel-a-day complex near Lagos and rehabilitating its own inoperative facilities.
But it has also promoted much smaller modular plants, like AIPCC Energy Ltd.’s 30,000 barrel-a-day Koko refinery that’s being fabricated in China and will be installed in the southern Delta state. With Dangote’s refinery beset by delays, these mini projects are at the forefront of the country’s efforts to cut billions of dollars from its annual import bill.
