A Review on the Reliability, Performance and Utilization of Nigerian Petrochemical Industry

Abstract

Nigeria established three petrochemical plants in Warri, Kaduna, and Eleme respectively, between the year 1988 and 1995. They were designed to produce feedstocks for the country’s plastics, rubber and detergent industries. The poor performance of the three state-owned plants and the unsuccessful outcomes of other proposed petrochemical plans discouraged the government from establishing new ones. This situation led to both losses in revenue and low capacity utilization. The Eleme petrochemical complex was later sold to Indorama, a private concern, which surprisingly turned around the fortunes of the plant within three years. This paper gives an in-depth insight into the present condition of the Nigeria petrochemical sector and examines the causes of the suboptimal performance of the state-owned petrochemical companies based on previous reviews. Finally, the cause and effect tool (Ishikawa or Fishbone diagram) summed up all highlighted factors under the seven M’s (Material, Method, Measurement, Manpower, Management, Machine and Mother Nature) umbrella.