Aradel Modular Refinery Expansion To Reduce Import Of Petrol

Aradel Holdings (formerly the NDEP Group) is upscaling investment in crude refining, adding value in the crude oil processing value chain as the company’s modular refinery moves closer to refining Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also called petrol. The indigenous oil and gas firm started off by pioneering the modular refinery with the 1,000-barrel Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) train and further expanded to an 11,000-barrel refinery.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Aradel Holdings, Mr. Adegbite Falade, while speaking at the rebranding of the company’s name to Aradel, confirmed that within less than 12 months from now, the firm is going to come on stream as the first privately-owned modular refinery for the refining of PMS and its distribution within the domestic economy.

“But we’re going to go beyond that. As far as we’re concerned, we’re still scratching the surface. It’s a proof of concept we are at right now. And so, what should you expect in the future? Expect a refinery that is going to be significantly larger in capacity than what we have,” he said.

He stated that the company also pioneered the development of marginal oil and gas fields in Nigeria with the start of crude oil production in 2005 from the Ogbele marginal field, located in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 54, in Ahoada East LGA, Rivers State. The company also became the first non-JV partner of NLNG to deliver gas production to the Bonny NLNG Plant.

Falade also mentioned that the group became the first to commission and operate a private refinery in Nigeria, with the commissioning of a 1,000-barrels-per-day refinery train in 2010 that has since been producing premium Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), popularly known as diesel. The refinery capacity was expanded in 2020 with the addition of two trains, increasing its total refining capacity to 11,000 barrels per day. 

It produces other refined products in addition to AGO, including Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), Marine Diesel Oil (MDO), Naphtha, and Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO). A fourth train of about 3,000 barrels per day, dedicated to Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol), has been mechanically completed and will be commissioned soon.