Petrochemical Technology Development: an Evaluation of the Nigerian Industry

Abstract

Petrochemical resources have been exploited in sizeable quantities for the past fifty years in Nigeria. The discovery of Crude Oil and Natural Gas in Nigeria opened a floodgate of activities in the Petroleum and Petrochemical sectors. Four Petroleum Refineries have so far being built, with Warri and Kaduna Refineries having accompanying Petrochemical Plants. While the Warri Refinery has Carbon Black and Polypropylene Plants, the Kaduna Refinery has a Linear Alkylbenzene (LAB) Plant. Several other Petrochemical infrastructure have being built by government and private investment ever since. All these Plants were designed, installed and operated by foreign technology. After more than three decades of commissioning of the first Plant, local Engineers (expertise) can only operate and run these Plants. Basic redesign and maintenance of plant units and components are still referred offshore for technical support. There exists significant gap between Petrochemical infrastructure and in – country capacity in the industry. This paper therefore evaluates this gap with the aim of making useful suggestions in bridging it.