Frugal capex, staged in tiers
Where a mega-refinery demands colossal capital in one go, the modular model invests train by train: you pay for capacity at the pace demand justifies. No oversizing, no asset frozen in concrete.
Downstream · Modular refining
Modular, movable mini-refinery
Refine as close as possible to the market: a modular, redeployable mini-refinery — 500–2,000 b/d trains on skids, maintenance by module exchange. The refining industry, at Chad’s scale.
Refining & Distribution · Our trump card
The modular & removable mini-refinery
Our trump card for reaching our objectives: a refinery that is modern, modular, removable and small-scale, designed in Chad for our realities. Standardised 500 to 2,000 b/d trains, prefabricated and skid-mounted, 100% catalogue parts. Where a mega-refinery is rigid and out of reach, our unit deploys, redeploys and upgrades crude as close as possible to the satellite blocks — a mobile asset, never stranded. (ambition · company in formation)
Modular
Standardised trains assembled in the factory, then hooked up on site like building blocks.
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- Prefabricated trains of 500 to 2,000 b/d.
- Capacity added module by module, at the pace of demand.
- 100% catalogue parts — no costly custom builds.
- Exception: anti-corrosion steels for Doba’s acidic crude — frugality applies to the architecture, not to critical materials.
Use case · cost reduction
Challenge — A mega-refinery is rigid, oversized and financially out of reach.
Integrated answer — Standardised 500–2,000 b/d trains, 100% catalogue parts, capacity added module by module.
Targeted gainInvestment spread out and pegged to real demand
Removable
Skid-mounted: the unit is transported, set down and lifted again without heavy civil works.
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- Skid chassis transportable by road.
- Minimal ground footprint, light foundations.
- Dismantling and lifting without a permanent worksite.
Use case · cost reduction
Challenge — Heavy civil works tie up capital and freeze the site.
Integrated answer — A skid-mounted unit, transportable by road, light foundations.
Targeted gainDeployment without a permanent worksite — capital never frozen
Redeployable
Refining follows the crude: the unit moves to the satellite blocks and the markets.
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- Deployment as close as possible to the fields and depots.
- Redeployment as production evolves.
- A mobile asset — never stuck on a single site.
Use case · cost reduction
Challenge — A fixed refinery cannot follow production as it evolves.
Integrated answer — The unit moves to the satellite blocks and the markets as demand dictates.
Targeted gainA mobile asset earning continuously, never stuck
At the right scale
Deliberately small: upgrade crude locally rather than export it all.
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- Local refining, as close as possible to the well.
- Fuels produced in-country, fewer imports.
- A frugal model suited to small volumes.
Use case · cost reduction
Challenge — Exporting all the crude and importing all the fuel destroys value.
Integrated answer — Small-scale local refining, as close as possible to the well.
Targeted gainFuels produced in-country · reduced import dependence
Maintenance by module exchange
Availability first: a module is replaced instead of stopping the plant.
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- Module exchange targeted in under 24 h.
- Standard parts, a pooled catalogue inventory.
- Downtime cut to the strict minimum.
Use case · cost reduction
Challenge — A plant shutdown for maintenance costs weeks of production.
Integrated answer — Module replacement (target < 24 h) drawn from a pooled catalogue inventory.
Targeted gainAvailability maximised · downtime minimal
AI-driven & safe
Digital supervision and HSE by design, frugal site power.
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- Assisted operation and remote supervision (target).
- Built-in HSE — safety comes before throughput.
- Hybrid gas-solar site power, frugality targeted.
Use case · cost reduction
Challenge — Manual operation and carbon-heavy power weigh on safety and cost.
Integrated answer — Remote digital supervision, HSE by design, frugal site power.
Targeted gainSafety prioritised · operating cost controlled
From module to pump, step by step
PrefabricateStandardised trains assembled and tested in the workshop — quality mastered before the field.
DeploySkid transport and quick installation as close as possible to the crude, without heavy civil works.
OperateLocal fuel production, assisted operation and HSE by design.
RedeployThe unit lifts off and redeploys with demand and the satellite blocks.
500–2,000 b/dstandardised modular trains
< 24 hmodule exchange targeted
100%catalogue parts
Everything presented here is a target or ambition of a company in formation — not assets in operation.
Continue in Refining & Distribution
The concept at a glance
Anatomy of the model: a short chain, on a skid
A modular mini-refinery is not a large refinery in miniature: it is a short chain, sized for local demand, designed to be assembled, operated — and moved. Here, at a single glance, is how Doba crude becomes fuels, gas and bitumen.
↔ Scroll the diagram horizontally.
Atmospheric distillation, simple and robust
A proven process, few units, 100% catalogue parts: maintenance is done by swapping a module (target < 24 h) rather than a lengthy shutdown. Frugality is in the architecture — not in the critical steels, anti-corrosion for Doba’s acidic crude.
Anchored to the upstream
Crude arrives from nearby satellite blocks: a short chain, less transport, value captured close to the well. When a field declines, the unit lifts off and redeploys to the next.
Less crude exported, less fuel imported
Every barrel refined on site is a litre that does not leave for export only to return imported at a premium. The model tackles Chad’s paradox head-on: producing oil yet enduring expensive fuels.
Schematic of principle — the units, cuts and specifications illustrate the target model of a company in formation; they do not describe an asset in operation.
How it works
From crude to product: the mini-refinery, step by step
A modular mini-refinery is not a large refinery in miniature: it is a short chain, sized for local demand, designed to be assembled, operated — and moved. Here is its journey.
Step 1
Receiving & preparation
Crude arrives from the nearby field, is metered, settled and stripped of its water and sediments: clean crude protects the whole chain downstream.
Step 2
Heating & distillation
Brought up to temperature, the crude rises in the atmospheric column: each cut — gas, gasolines, kerosene, diesel, residue — separates by boiling point.
Step 3
Cuts & specifications
Each cut is stabilised, blended and checked in the laboratory against national specifications: an off-spec product never leaves the site.
Step 4
Valorising the residue
The column bottoms are not waste: heavy fuel oil for industry and power plants, bitumen base for roads — every fraction finds its use.
Step 5
Storage & dispatch
Dedicated tanks per product, custody metering at loading, batch traceability: the mini-refinery supplies the Refining & Distribution depots, with the numbers to prove it.
Step 6
Redeploying the module
When local demand shifts or a field declines, the unit is dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere: capital follows the need — that is the whole point of “movable”.
Refining & Distribution · The mini-refinery range
Three models, one DNA: refine as close to the need as possible.
The Mobile Station™ philosophy applied to refining: standardised 500–2,000 b/d trains, assembled into three configurations depending on the territory to serve — and expandable train by train, without shutting the unit down. (target range · company in formation)
MR-500 · “Pioneer”
The unit that opens a basin
1 train · 500 b/d · containerisable
- Diesel and kerosene for the immediate market of an isolated block or early production.
- From factory to first litre in 6–9 months; redeployable in weeks.
- Small crew, remote supervision from the TchadiTech centre.
MR-1000 · “Basin”
The regional backbone
2 trains · 1,000–2,000 b/d
- EN 590 diesel, RON 95 gasoline, kerosene/Jet A-1 — the everyday range.
- Coupled to a hub depot: clean storage, cascading distribution to the stations.
- Capacity added train by train, with no operational shutdown.
MR-2000 · “Hub+”
The compact complex
3+ trains · up to 6,000 b/d
- Bitumen units (60/70 · 80/100) and LPG alongside the fuels.
- Designed for Doba’s heavy, acidic crude (TAN 4.7): adapted metallurgy.
- Prepares the petrochemical stage and feeds the station corridor.
Each train swaps out like a Mobile Station™ module: maintenance by standard exchange, capital that follows demand. Cumulative target in the order of 40 kb/d by 2030 — see the project (in French) →
Ultra-modern by design
A refinery born digital, not retrofitted.
No legacy systems to drag along: every unit ships from day one with the technology layer that large complexes bolt on afterwards.
01 · Digital twin
Every train has its double
A living digital replica of the unit: test a cut, a feed, a maintenance operation in the virtual world before touching the real one. The TchadiTech backbone →
02 · Yield AI
Cuts follow demand
Machine-learning optimisation adjusts diesel/gasoline/kerosene yields to local demand and crude profile — each barrel earns more, with no new capex.
03 · Remote operations
SCADA, sensors, robots
Continuous supervision, predictive maintenance and inspection robotics (tanks, flares, lines): more monitoring, less human exposure.
04 · Clean process energy
Zero routine flaring
Process gas powers the unit (heat, electricity), hybridised with on-site solar — a refinery that produces energy without wasting it. GreenTech →
05 · Closed water loop
Water-to-Value™ applied
Process water treated and reused, discharges controlled: in a water-stressed Chad, the refinery gives back the water it borrows.
06 · Instrumented safety
Safe by design
HAZOP/LOPA studies from the design stage, safety-instrumented systems (SIS) and tested emergency shutdowns (ESD) — big-complex standards at skid scale.
The key to the vision
“Access to Energy” starts at the refinery.
Refining locally, as close to the need as possible, is what makes everything else work: the regulated ARSAT price held everywhere, shortages cushioned by the depots, and the everyday products — diesel, gasoline, LPG, bitumen, Jet A-1 — made from Chadian crude rather than imported from 1,700 km away. The mini-refinery feeds the hub stations and Mobile Stations™, supplies the product range, secures the distribution cascade — and prepares the petrochemical stage. It is the link that turns a slogan into a network. Discuss the model →
Quality · Proof to the litre
Specifications, certificates — and the assumed limits of the first tier.
Specifications & CoA
Every cut targets named specifications — harmonised African references (AFRI/ARSO) and EN 228 / EN 590 equivalents in sight, target sulphur content per product. Every shipped batch leaves with its laboratory certificate of analysis, retained witness samples — the same chain of proof as the corridor’s custody.
Unit HSE
Managed flare and systematic hot-work permits, containment under every piece of equipment, and effluents looped into the company’s water management — the mini-refinery applies to finished products the Water-to-Value™ discipline born in the field.
What the first tier does not do
No cracking, no hydrotreating: the first tier is an atmospheric distillation, deliberately simple. Products that require those units remain imported at this stage — stated plainly, as for multimodal. Further tiers will come when volumes justify them. (ambition · company in formation)