Economist David Ndii has revealed that the planned Ksh2.2 trillion East African oil refinery in Lamu will be developed as a wider petrochemical complex involving additional industries beyond oil processing.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

According to Ndii, the petrochemical complex would increase value addition by at least 50 per cent compared to a standalone refinery.

“We are building a petrochemical complex, not just a refinery, which will add value by at least 50 per cent,” he wrote in a comment to Kiritu Itimu, a Social and Campaigns Manager at Kenyans.co.ke .

While a refinery mainly produces products such as diesel, petrol, fuel oil and other petroleum products, a petrochemical plant converts oil and natural gas by-products into chemical materials used by many other industries.

📌 What You Need to Know

The planned complex in Lamu would therefore include facilities that produce raw materials for industries such as plastics manufacturing, packaging, construction and consumer goods.

These facilities could produce materials such as polyethene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polystyrene (PS), which are used to make items including plastic containers, pipes, household products and industrial packaging.

Other chemical products, such as resins, polymers and solvents, would support manufacturers that rely on these materials to produce finished goods.

Further, a petrochemical complex could also support agriculture through the production of by-products used to make fertilisers and farming-related chemicals.

Industries producing paints, detergents, cosmetics, synthetic fibres and other consumer products could also utilise outputs such as methanol and chemical intermediates.

Beyond processing, the plant would create opportunities for businesses involved in storage, transportation, distribution and manufacturing.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke