Sonatrach Arzew Refinery — Algeria

Sonatrach Arzew Refinery is a refinery in Algeria. Its listed capacity is 75,513 BBL per day. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery. It is operated by Sonatrach SpA. By capacity it ranks #3 among 6 oil refineries in Algeria. It emits about 754,509 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE. That is 3.7% of the CO₂e from the 29 facilities in Algeria that have an emissions figure in IndustryAtlas. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 16% above the national median for this sector.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-3143719.

In context: how this facility compares

At 75,513 BBL per day, Sonatrach Arzew Refinery is around the median refinery in Algeria (75,513 BBL per day). Subsector: oil-and-gas-refining. As refinery, it requires high process heat (typically 200–600°C) for its core industrial operations, supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 754,509 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest oil refineries in Algeria

Listed capacity (BBL per day), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by Sonatrach SpA. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

Sonatrach Arzew Refinery sits in a hot semi-arid steppe climate zone (Köppen BSh), at 35.8°N in the northern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1317 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.01× the loss at a 20 °C reference. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #3 largest of 6 oil refineries in Algeria by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• Tosyali Algerie Oran steel plant · Steel Plant · 1,337,191 t CO₂
• DZA-Arzew_methanol · Chemical Plant · 46,238 t CO₂
• Oggaz Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 1,886,659 t CO₂
• Zahana Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 436,123 t CO₂
• Ozmert Algeria steel plant · Steel Plant · 203,345 t CO₂
• Beni Saf Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 440,689 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates 35.82992, -0.32427. View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions