Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage

What Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage does

Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR) is Côte d'Ivoire's sole petroleum refinery, operating an 80-hectare complex in the Port-Bouet Vridi industrial zone of Abidjan since 1965. The company refines crude oil into a portfolio that includes Super sans plomb premium unleaded gasoline (20% of output), Kerosene/Jet A1 (23%), Gasoil and specialty gasoil (29%), fuel oil variants (10%), distillate DDO (5%), VGO (vacuum gasoil for further processing), butane LPG (1%), and other products (12%). It supplies domestic distribution networks serving transportation, agriculture, aviation, household cooking-gas, and industrial users, and exports refined products to international and West African markets. The company is treated as a B2B commodity supplier rather than a consumer-facing brand and competes on reliability and product specification rather than marketing.

The refinery's processing base is anchored by a full distillation complex plus a Hydrocraqueur (hydrocracker) that converts heavy vacuum gasoil into lighter, higher-value products, and a Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) unit under construction to bring diesel sulfur content to 10 ppm. Operational management is supported by modern numerical process control systems. Output is sold at market-based prices tied to international crude and product benchmarks; the company does not publicly disclose pricing schedules. Revenue mechanics are refining-margin driven — margins reported at $17/barrel in 2022, $11/barrel in 2023, and a ~$5/barrel budget for 2024 — making the business highly sensitive to the crack spread between crude input costs and refined product realizations.

SIR is a partially state-owned corporation without a public listing. Ownership is led by PETRO-CI at 45.74%, with SAHARA LMT at 27.33%, Angola's SONANGOL at 20%, the Government of Burkina Faso at 5.39%, and the Ivorian state directly at 1.54%. The corporate governance layer is anchored by a Board chaired by Général de corps d'armée Soumaïla Bakayoko, with Soro Tiotioho serving as Director General since 2024 and a full executive committee covering finance, HR, commercial, technical, production, risk, and a dedicated Director of Development and Energy Transition. The company's 2020-2030 strategic plan, combined with the HDS and cogeneration capex scheduled to begin in 2025, positions SIR to align product quality with tightening West African environmental standards while adding electricity and steam generation to its product slate — though margin compression remains the dominant near-term financial concern.

Name

Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage

Legal name

Société Ivoirienne de Rafinnage

Website

https://sir.ci

Company type

Private

Founded year

1962

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR) is Côte d'Ivoire's sole national petroleum refinery, processing crude oil into gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, butane LPG, and fuel oil for domestic consumption and West African export markets. Founded in 1962, majority-owned by PETRO-CI, and backed by regional state shareholders including SONANGOL and the Government of Burkina Faso.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Petroleum Refining

NAICS

Petroleum Refineries (324110), Petroleum Refineries (32411), Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing (3241), Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals (424710)

SIC

Petroleum Refining (2911), Wholesale-Petroleum Bulk Stations & Terminals (5171), Wholesale-Petroleum & Petroleum Products (No Bulk Stations) (5172)

akta.pro primary industry

Distillation & Fractionation (Crude, Condensate & NGL Splitters) (EUALAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Deep Conversion & Resid Upgrading (Delayed Coking, Visbreaking, Solvent Deasphalting) (EUALAGAC), Refinery Blending & Product Quality Control (Gasoline/Diesel/Jet Blending, Additives) (EUALAGAJ), Gas Processing & NGL Recovery (Dehydration, Sweetening, Cryogenic Recovery) (EUALAGAG), Liquid Bulk Petroleum Terminals (Crude, Refined Products) (TLAHABAH), Aviation Fuel Marketing (Into-Plane, Airport Fueling) (EUALAIAH)

Keywords

• Petroleum refining
• Crude oil processing
• Petroleum products distribution
• Oil refinery operations
• Gasoline and diesel production

Headquarters

HQ city

Abidjan

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage operates Côte d'Ivoire's primary petroleum refinery, processing crude oil into a diversified portfolio of refined products including super unleaded gasoline, kerosene, specialty diesel, DDO, VGO, butane, fuel oil, and standard gasoil. The company distributes these refined products to the domestic Côte d'Ivoire market and international export markets through direct commercial relationships with distributors, industrial users, and the aviation sector.

Product overview

Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage operates as an oil refinery producing a diverse portfolio of petroleum products. The company manufactures and commercializes Super sans plomb gasoline, Kérosène, Gasoil, Gasoil de spécialité, DDO, VGO, Butane, and Fuel Oil through crude oil processing. The facility has been operating since 1965, processing crude oil into refined products including gasoline (20%), kerosene (23%), diesel (29%), fuel (10%), distillate (5%), butane (1%), and other products (12%). Strategic development includes Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) units and cogeneration facilities planned for 2025.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Super sans plomb (Premium Unleaded Gasoline) Premium unleaded gasoline with high octane rating, designed for turbocharged or high-compression engines. Composed of alkanes, cycloalkanes, alkenes, and aromatic hydrocarbons. Sold through SIR's petroleum distribution network in Côte d'Ivoire and international export markets.
• Kérosène (Kerosene / Jet Fuel) Complex hydrocarbon mixture obtained from crude oil distillation with carbon numbers between 9 and 16 and boiling point 175°C to 325°C. Used as aviation fuel, lighting/heating fuel, degreasing/cleaning agent, and in pesticide and paint formulations. Targeted at airlines, aviation operators, and household/industrial lighting buyers.
• Gasoil de spécialité (Specialty Diesel) Premium diesel fuel containing special detergents that clean fuel injection system deposits without affecting fuel performance. Produced from crude oil fractionated distillation. Targeted at diesel engine users seeking enhanced engine cleanliness and performance.
• DDO (Distillate Diesel Oil) Commonly called domestic fuel oil, similar to diesel but with a lower cetane rating. Used for agricultural vehicles, construction vehicles, and forestry equipment. Targeted at agricultural, construction, and forestry operators.
• VGO (Vacuum Gasoil) One of two products from the vacuum distillation column, produced using hydrogenation or cracking processes. Used as feedstock for cracking units such as FCC or hydrocracker. Targeted at refining operators requiring cracking feedstock.
• Butane Petroleum-derived hydrocarbon that becomes liquid after treatment, facilitating storage in low-pressure bottles. Contains 80% butane, used for domestic cooking appliances and outdoor equipment. Targeted at household consumers and outdoor equipment users via distribution companies.
• Fuel Oil 180, 380, 450 cst (Heavy Vacuum Gasoil) Fuel obtained from crude oil distillation, either as distillate or residue. Used domestically for home heating and as fuel for diesel engines in agricultural machinery, construction equipment, and boats. Targeted at industrial, marine, agricultural, and home heating buyers.
• Gasoil (Standard Diesel) Liquid hydrocarbon mixture obtained by fractional distillation of crude oil. Used as fuel for diesel engines, heating, or electricity generation. Targeted at diesel engine users across transportation, agriculture, and electricity generation sectors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Refining margin of 17 $/barrel in 2022, 11 $/barrel in 2023, and approximately 5 $/barrel budget for 2024

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Dangote Refinery: Newly commissioned 650,000 bpd refinery in Lekki, Nigeria — the largest in Africa. Operates as an emerging pan-African refining competitor whose output volumes could displace SIR's export flows into West African markets and reshape regional product pricing dynamics.
• Société Tchadienne des Hydrocarbures (SHT): State-aligned oil sector operator in Chad with refining interests and downstream supply focus. Comparable as a smaller emerging African national oil sector player operating in a similar landlocked or West-Central African context, though at significantly smaller scale than SIR.

Direct peers

• SAR (Société Africaine de Raffinage): Senegalese national petroleum refinery operating from Mbao, near Dakar, with similar product slate (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, fuel oil, LPG). Directly comparable as a francophone West African national refinery serving a comparable domestic + regional market with similar state-aligned ownership.
• SARA (Société Anonyme de Raffinerie d'Alger): Algerian refinery under Sonatrach group producing gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products. Closely comparable as a state-aligned national refiner focused on domestic and regional supply in a similar regulatory and political environment.

Regional players

• Puma Energy: International downstream petroleum products distributor with extensive presence across Africa, particularly in West and Southern Africa. Comparable as a regional petroleum products player competing in the same downstream customer base that SIR supplies.
• Vivo Energy: Shell-licensed downstream petroleum products marketer operating across more than 20 African countries. Comparable as a major regional fuel marketer that competes with SIR for the same downstream customers and retail channels in West Africa.

Broad incumbents

• Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Refineries: Operates the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries in Nigeria. Comparable as a national African refining group with multiple processing units and state-aligned ownership, though historically plagued by utilization issues that make SIR's 73% utilization a relative advantage.
• Sonatrach (Refining Division): Algerian national oil company operating multiple refineries across Algeria. Comparable as a North African state-backed integrated refiner with significant crude processing capacity, though operating at larger scale and within a different regional market.
• TotalEnergies (West African refining & marketing): Operates refining assets and a large downstream marketing network across West Africa. Comparable as a major international oil company active in the same regional petroleum product supply chain, competing with SIR on both supply and retail.
• ENI (Eni Plenitude / Refining in Africa): Major international oil company with refining and downstream operations active across Africa. Comparable as a large global incumbent with integrated upstream-to-downstream capabilities operating in the same regional supply markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage