Is The BUA Refinery 90% Complete?

Umoh Umoh 

An X post claimed that the 200,000 barrels per day BUA refinery constructed in Akwa Ibom state is at 90 percent completion. 

The claim was posted on December 9, 2024 by an X user, @MgajiInnocent with the picture of a refinery and a caption that reads, “Nobody is talking about the construction of the 200,000 Barrels Per Day BUA Refinery that’s currently at 90%  completion. This multi-billion-dollar integrated project aims at producing Euro-V fuels (high-quality gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. DANGOTE go see competition tire🤦”

The post has attracted over 443,400 views, 261 comments, 907 retweets and quotes, 3,400 likes and 205 bookmarks as of the time this report was published. In the comment section, @AinomoAdiniyi wrote, “90% completion, are you sure about this info..”, while @MS_Atuga commented, “90% you say!! They are still clearing bushes on the proposed site.” NV-A went on to verify the authenticity of the claim about BUA’s refinery.

VERIFICATION

BUA is a leading food, infrastructure, mining and manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Nigeria with diversified investments spanning key business sectors of the African economy.

Recently, BUA group ventured into crude oil processing to provide healthy competition to Dangote refinery, which might lead to a reduction in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to Nigerians.

To fact-check the claim about the refinery, NV-A used the Google reverse image search to trace the origin of the refinery in the X post and found that the image dates back to 2022. The refinery image was spotted in a research journal published in 2022 titled, ‘A framework for soil microbial ecology in urban ecosystems.’ According to the journal, this image including the refinery is a ‘conceptual diagram of an urban matrix, based on a zoning map of Santa Ana, California.’

Also, the same picture was used in a December 2023 publication by a blog, Energies Media, but there was no mention of BUA in the content. Further search through the exact matches on Google reverse image search led to us  Pixabay, where the original image was published in May 2013.

Meanwhile, the BUA Group also refuted the claims about the refinery on its verified X handle, stating that while construction is progressing steadily, the refinery has not yet reached 90% completion.

According to the PM News, the company emphasised that it is on track to meet its planned delivery timelines in collaboration with its partners.

In addition to the refinery, BUA Group has undertaken other energy projects, including the construction of a mini-LNG plant and several new hybrid power plants across the country. These initiatives are expected to add to the company’s existing over 1,000 megawatts of installed captive power generation capacity, as reported by the Business Day.

CONCLUSION

The claim that BUA refinery is 90 percent complete is MISLEADING. The image accompanying the claim is from a stock image on Pixabay and the company has refuted the claim on social media, confirming that it is building a refinery but has not yet reached 90% completion.

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