Azikel Refinery is a greenfield hydro-skimming refinery project being developed by Azikel Group in Nigeria. The project is estimated to involve an investment of $12bn.
Operated by Azikel Petroleum, an Azikel Group subsidiary, the 12,000 barrels per day refinery is Nigeria’s first private refinery project with hydro-skimming configuration.
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The ground-breaking ceremony for the refinery took place in February 2018 and the project is expected to be completed in 2021.
The refinery will produce mixed LPG, gasoline, kerosene, aviation fuels, and diesel as primary products and heavy fuel oil, naphtha and gas oil as secondary products.
Azikel refinery location
The Azikel refinery is located in Obunagha, Gbarain, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State in Nigeria, near the East-West Road and the Isaac Adako Boro Expressway that connects to Yenagoa and Port Harcourt. It is surrounded by Obunagha community on the north, Nun River on the south, proposed Azikel power plant on the west and is 20m away from the Gbarian-Ubie Shell Gas Gathering Facility on the east.
The project site is a naturally flooded region with water coming in from the surrounding freshwater swamp forest. It required extensive land clearing and preparation work before the beginning of the refinery development.
Development of Azikel refinery
The company received the licence to establish the refinery, as well as construction approval for the project, from Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR) in 2015.
In the same year, the geotechnical surveys for concrete foundation work and waterway bathymetric studies were also completed.
Land clearing, sand filling and land reclamation work with 2.7 million cubic metres of sand was performed in 2016. In 2017, the detailed engineering design, product off-take contract, feedstock contract and other contractual agreements for operation and maintenance were finalised.
The 4,120m concrete perimeter fencing, construction of water drainage system, internal road network, security building and gate was completed in 2017, while the construction of storage tanks, core refinery, helipad, multi-station gantry, and administrative building began in 2018.
A 200m-long pier with shoreline protection is being constructed for refinery modules and equipment delivery.
Azikel refinery project details
The Azikel refinery is a modular refinery project being developed in the total area of 19.9Ha in two sub-phases, Inside Battery Limits (ISBL) and Outside Battery Limits (OSBL).
The ISBL will include a crude distillation unit comprising naphtha hydrotreater, naphtha splitter, debutaniser, diesel treater, catalytic reformer, isomerization units and gasoline stabiliser.
Spanning an area of 192,000m², the OSBL will comprise 32 crude and refined product storage tanks of different sizes with a combined capacity of 70,930m³. The refinery will also feature automated multiple-station loading-bay gantries and utilities for ISBL and OSBL for steam generation, wastewater treatment, raw water treatment, and power generation.
The proximity of the refinery to Shell’s Gbarian-Ubie oil and gas facility will ensure affordable feedstock supply. The Shell facility will directly supply Bonny light crude and condensate to the Azikel refinery storage tanks via pipeline.
Technology details
The refinery rates 5.3 in the Nelson Complexity Index (NCI), which is a measure of oil refinery sophistication. The state-of-the-art operation system of the refinery will work on the emission control mechanism to attain the lowest achievable emission rate (LAER), supporting the facility to be the cleanest refinery in Africa.
A very high research octane number clear (RONC) reformate will be produced in the refinery, using UOP Reformer technology, which will be mixed with light straight run (LSR) naphtha and butane to produce premium motor spirit (PMS) at 89 RONC.
The refinery will require 140 gallons per minute (gpm) of raw water, cooling water circulation of 1,200gpm and boiling feed water of 52gpm.
Financing for Azikel refinery
The project is being funded by Exim Bank and Export Credit Agencies along with engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) project financing.
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board also provided equity investment for the project.
Contractors involved in the refinery project
UAE-based MUCME Engineering Consultancy was involved in the front end engineering design (FEED) of the project. US-based Ventech Engineering is the primary contractor of the project.
McDermott performed the FEED work for the project in 2018. In the next phase, it received the engineering and procurement contract in July 2020. Work includes engineering and design of ISBL modular refinery and equipment supply for the ISBL.
Other participating companies in the project include Manuelo Agostini, JLS Capital Strategies, Basic Equipment, Vepica Engineering, Oil Projects USA, MRS Oil Nigeria, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Axens, Honeywell UOP, Norton Rose Fulbright, Atlantic Gulf and Pacific Company, Chemie-Tech, and Asico Projects.
