Did you know that the majority of the largest oil refineries in the world are situated in the Asia Pacific region, and that the Dangote Refinery is the only largest refinery in Africa on the list despite the continent's huge oil resource base?

In this age of crude oil, which are the largest refineries in the world? You probably already know. But if you don't, stick around to find out as we present 11 of the world's largest refineries.

1️⃣ JAMNAGAR REFINERY COMPLEX, Gujarat, India is located in the Jamnagar Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and is by far the largest oil refinery on Earth and the de facto petroleum hub of the world. The refinery complex is spread across 7,500 acres and has more than 50 process units which refine the basic feedstock, crude oil to obtain various finished products. The world’s largest refinery took three years to complete and involved about $6bn of investment. With 1.24 million barrels per day of nominal crude processing capacity, the Jamnagar Complex outputs 1.6% of global capacity and one third of India’s total oil consumption. The refinery consists of hydrodesulphurisation, catalytic reforming, fluid catalytic cracking and delayed coking units. It also includes sulphur recovery, hydrogen generation, merox treating and TAME (Tertiary Amyl Methyl Ether) units. It is owned and operated by Reliance Industries Limited.

2️⃣ PARAGUANÁ REFINERY COMPLEX, Falcón, Venezuela is the second largest oil refinery in the world, with a processing capacity of 955,000bpd. It was established in 1949 and was created as a result of the amalgamation of three extant refineries: Amuay, Bajo Grande and Cardón. The complex currently holds 71% of the refining capacity of the oil-rich South American nation. The world’s largest flexicoker, with a processing capacity of about 64,000bpd, is located at Amuay refinery of the Paraguana complex. The Amuay refinery also has a catalytic cracking unit. The ignition of a leaking gas at Paraguana’s Amuay refinery in August 2012 caused an explosion that broke out fire in three tanks at Block 23. More than 48 people died in the incident. PDVSA completely extinguished the fire after three days. Venezuela’s state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) owns and operates the refinery.

3️⃣ ULSAN REFINERY, Ulsan, South Korea is the third largest oil refinery in the world with a capacity of 840,000bpd. The refinery produces LPG, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and asphalt. Operations at the Ulsan refinery started in 1964. The first crude oil unit with a capacity of 35,000bpd was delivered by Fluor in 16 months. The refining capacity was expanded to 810,000bpd in 1996. A heavy oil desulphurisation plant and decomposition plant were launched at the complex in 1997 and a second residue fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) plant was launched in 2008. The refinery has five crude distillation units and a paraxylene unit with a capacity of 758,000t per year. It also has two naphtha cracking units and a heavy oil upgrading facility with a capacity of 114,000bpd. In addition, the refinery has 34 large scale crude oil storage tanks. It is owned and operated by SK Energy.

4️⃣ YEOSU REFINERY, Yeosu city, South Korea is the fourth largest refinery in the world and is located at Yeosu city in South Jeolla Province of South Korea. The processing capacity of the refinery is 775,000bpd. The refinery began operations in 1969. A residue fluidised catalytic cracker with a capacity of 94,000bpd was installed in 1995. A second Heavy Oil Upgrading (HOU) facility was constructed in August 2007. The refinery has a desulphurisation facility with a capacity of 272,000bpd. It also includes a hydrocracker and base oil plant, and HOU facilities to convert cheap residue into expensive light petroleum products, such as kerosene and diesel. The refinery is operated by GS Caltex, a joint venture between GS Holdings and Chevron.

5️⃣ ONSAN REFINERY, Ulsan, South Korea is the fifth largest oil refinery in the world with a processing capacity of 669,000bpd. The refinery produces petrochemicals and lube base oil. The best quality oil products are produced at its Bunker-C Cracking Centre (BCC) and Lube Base Oil Complex. The BCC at the refinery has been in operation since the mid-1990s. A second aromatic complex was constructed at the complex in June 2011 after investing KRW 1.4 trillion ($1.28bn). The refinery includes a condensate fractionation unit (CFU) for producing additional naphtha. The processing capacity at the refinery was expanded from 580,000bpd to 669,000bpd in 2011. It is owned and operated by S-Oil Corporation.

6️⃣ DANGOTE REFINERY,  owned by Aliko Dangote and located near Lagos in Nigeria, is the sixth largest and Africa’s largest oil refinery with an incredible refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd). Forming part of petrochemical complex, the Dangote refinery os expected to significantly reduce fuel imports while supplying the West African region with refined products. The $19-billion refinery will be transformative for both the region and Africa.

7️⃣ PORT ARTHUR REFINERY, Texas, US is the seventh largest refinery in the world, with a total processing capacity of 600,000bpd. The refinery is located on the Gulf of Mexico at Port Arthur in Texas, US. The refinery started operations in 1903 and played an important role in the production of high-octane aviation fuel during the World War II. The refinery became part of Star Enterprise, a joint venture between Texaco and Saudi Aramco in 1989. The refinery produces gasoline, distillates, jet fuel, lubricant base oils and chemicals and solvents. It became the largest refinery in the US by expanding its daily processing capacity to 600,000bpd in May 2012. The refinery includes a catalytic reformer at the new three-unit naphtha processing complex, which converts 85,000bpd into high octane gasoline for blending. It is operated by Motiva Enterprises, a 50/50 joint venture between Shell and Saudi Aramco.

8️⃣ EXXONMOBIL SINGAPORE REFINERY is the eighth largest refinery in the world. The refinery has a processing capacity of about 592,000bpd. It has two operating sites located at Jurong on the mainland and Pulau Ayer Chawan (PAC) on Jurong Island in Singapore. The Jurong mainland site has a processing capacity of 302,000bpd, whereas the PAC site has 290,000bpd of capacity. The refinery at the Jurong site became operational in 1966 and the one at the Pulau Ayer Chawan started operations in 1970. The latest expansion at the refinery was completed in December 2012 adding 2.6 million tonnes of new finished product capacity in a year. The refinery includes downstream units including a steam cracker ethylene complex and two downstream plants. It also includes a chemical plant with two world-scale steam crackers, as well as an aromatics plant.

9️⃣ EXXONMOBIL’S BAYTOWN REFINERY, Texas, US is the second largest petroleum and petrochemical complex in the US and ninth largest in the world. It has a processing capacity of 584,000 barrels a day. The refinery was established in 1919 and commenced operations in 1920. It is spread across 3,400 acres along the Houston Ship Channel. The chemical plant at the refinery began operations in 1940. The refinery produces jet fuel, diesel, refinery gas, propane, chemical feedstocks, oils, gasoline and coke. The main complex occupies five square miles and integrates two chemical plants, regional engineering office and global technology centre. It is owned and operated by ExxonMobil.

🔟 RAS TANURA REFINERY, Saudi Arabia is the tenth largest refinery in the world, with a crude distillation capacity of 550,000bpd. The refinery is located on the Persian Gulf coast near the industrial port city Jubail in Saudi Arabia. Operations at the Ras Tanura refinery began in September 1945 with an initial production capacity of more than 60,000bpd. The major output of the refinery is supplied to Dhahran bulk plant for domestic use, while the remaining is exported. The refinery includes a 325,000bpd crude distillation unit, 225,000 barrels per day gas condensate distillation unit, 50,000bpd hydrocracker and 107,000bpd catalytic reforming capacity. It also has a 60,000bpd Visbreaker unit. Saudi Aramco is the operator of the refinery.

⏸️ GARYVILLE REFINERY, Louisiana, US | is the third largest refinery in the United States and the eleventh largest in the world. The construction of Garyville refinery began in 1973 and was completed in 1976. ECOL was the construction contractor. The capacity of the refinery was expanded with an investment of $3.9bn in 2009. The refinery processes heavy sour crude oils to produce gasoline, diesel, asphalt, propylene, isobutane, propane, fuel-grade coke and sulphur. The process technologies used at the complex include crude distillation, hydrocracking, catalytic cracking, hydrotreating, catalytic reforming, alkylation, sulphur recovery and coking. The 522,000bpd refinery is owned and operated by Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

SOURCES: www.hydrocarbons-technology.com
https://energycapitalpower.com/top-ten-oil-refineries-in-africa-by-capacity
IMAGE: Skikda Refinery, one of the other largest oil refineries in Africa

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