Fact Check: Does Sinclair Oil Refinery Have the Same Size as Dangote Refinery?

Claim: In a video published on Instagram, popular Afrobeats singer Seun Kuti called out the Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, stating that the Federal Government spent $2 billion to purchase a 20 percent stake in Dangote Refinery, while the same amount was used to buy the entire Sinclair Refinery in America. He noted that both refineries have the same size. Seun Kuti's Statement: “Do you know how much the Federal Government put into the refinery? They gave $2bn. I did a live stream the day they announced they had given Dangote $2bn for 20 per cent of that refinery. That same day, Sinclair Oil in America sold the same size of refinery with rail tracks, trains, and other things for $2bn. The same Dangote has the audacity to come outside and say the government is sabotaging him.”

Findings: Seun Kuti, a popular Afrobeats artiste with a large social media following, made the statement during a live video titled "Organised abandonment, misinformation and miseducation," which had been viewed by over 160,000 Instagram followers and shared widely by various blogs. Dangote Refinery: According to the Dangote Group's official website, the Dangote Refinery is the world's biggest single-train facility, handling 3 billion Standard Cubic Feet of gas per day over a 1,100-kilometer distance. Launched on May 22, 2023, and commencing operation on January 12, 2024, after receiving six million barrels of crude oil, the refinery is situated in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos. It boasts a storage capacity of 4.78 billion litres for refined petroleum products and is designed to produce up to 50 million litres of gasoline and 15 million litres of diesel daily. The refinery has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Sinclair Oil Refinery: The Sinclair Oil Company operates an 85,000-bpd refinery in Sinclair, Wyoming, and a 25,000-bpd refinery in Casper, Wyoming, totaling a 110,000-bpd capacity. These refineries process crude from the Rocky Mountain region, with the Sinclair operation also processing Canadian crude. The company has 1,500 branded gasoline stations across 29 US states and a network of crude oil and finished-product pipelines and terminals in the Rocky Mountain and midcontinent regions. Founded by Harry Ford Sinclair in 1916, Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation was fully integrated with production, pipeline, refining, and distribution capabilities. The two refineries were acquired for $2.6 billion by HollyFrontier Corporation in August 2021. Comparative Analysis: 1: Capacity: The Dangote Refinery has a capacity of 650,000 bpd, while Sinclair Oil's refineries total 110,000 bpd. 2: Investment: The Federal Executive Council authorized a 20 percent stake acquisition in Dangote Refinery for $2.76 billion, while HollyFrontier Corporation acquired Sinclair Oil's refineries for $2.6 billion. 3: Size and Modernity: The Dangote Refinery, newly built, ranks as the seventh largest refinery in the world, while Sinclair Oil's older refineries are not among the top 10. Expert Opinion: Professor Dayo Ayoade, an expert in energy at the University of Lagos, stated that Seun Kuti's claim was incorrect, emphasizing the significant difference in capacity and scale between the two refineries. Verdict: The claim by Seun Kuti that Sinclair Oil Refinery has the same size as Dangote Refinery is false.