Nigeria's first oil refinery, at Alesa Eleme near Port Harcourt, began operations in late 1965 with a capacity of 38,000 barrels per day, enough to meet domestic requirements at the time.

When was the second refinery built in Nigeria?

The second Port Harcourt Refinery, a deep conversion facility, with an installed capacity of 150,000 barrels per day was built and commissioned on November 25, 1989 under General Ibrahim Babangida (79), GCFR, bringing the combined capacity of the refinery to 210,000 barrel per day.

When did the oil industry start in Nigeria?

Oil was discovered in Nigeria in 1956 at Oloibiri in the Niger Delta after half a century of exploration. The discovery was made by Shell-BP, at the time the sole concessionaire. Nigeria joined the ranks of oil producers in 1958 when its first oil field came on stream producing 5,100 bpd.