Bentiu refinery, stated capacity
The refining capacity stated for the Bentiu local petroleum refinery, in barrels per day.
Unit: barrels per day · Measurement: CAPACITY · Scope: SITE · Comparability group: REFINERY_BENTIU_NAMEPLATE_CAPACITY_BPD
What this is not
Almost every serious error in operational data is a category error rather than an arithmetic one. These are the things this indicator shares a unit with and must never be combined with.
- Actual output, which a second source records as zero on a later date. Installed capacity is a design figure and establishes nothing about production.
- Available capacity, which accounts for maintenance and feedstock and which SSIP does not hold.
How current a reading has to be
Current within 60 days, usable within 180 days, measured against the 2026-09-23 build rather than against the time you read this page. A static deployment cannot re-age itself, so the build date is the honest anchor.
Crude production and export volumes are published on monthly-to-quarterly institutional cycles. A two-month-old figure is the most recent figure that exists; calling it stale would mean calling the entire published series stale.
Readings held (1)
- 5,000 barrels per day — observed 2026-08-14, 40 days before the 2026-09-23 build
Source: Unity State Information Ministry Press Briefing · Unity State (named only — no coordinate held) · Current · DISPUTED · evidence ev-00499
As the source states it: “5,000 bpd operational capacity”
Another source makes an incompatible claim about this subject. Both positions are published and neither is preferred.
What SSIP says about it
- Bentiu refinery, stated capacity: 5,000 barrels per day, recorded 2026-08-14 by Unity State Information Ministry Press Briefing. Inside this indicator's 60-day currency window as of 2026-09-23.
Rule: Take the most recent dated observation bound to this indicator and classify its age against the indicator's own freshness policy (60 days current, 180 days usable — Crude production and export volumes are published on monthly-to-quarterly institutional cycles. A two-month-old figure is the most recent figure that exists; calling it stale would mean calling the entire published series stale.).
Does not establish: That the condition still holds today. This is the most recent reading SSIP holds, not a statement about 2026-09-23. Actual output, which a second source records as zero on a later date. Installed capacity is a design figure and establishes nothing about production. - The Bentiu refinery is stated to have a capacity of 5,000 barrels per day (Unity State Information Ministry Press Briefing, 2026-08-14), while an inspecting source records output of 0 barrels per day on 2026-08-22 with the plant in cold standby. Installed capacity establishes nothing about production.
Rule: Where SSIP holds a capacity statement and an output observation for the same asset, publish both with their own dates and sources. No utilisation ratio is computed: dividing one source's nameplate by another source's reading on a different date would manufacture a figure neither source stated.
Does not establish: Why the plant was not running, whether it has run since, or what it is capable of producing under present feedstock and maintenance conditions. The zero is an observation on one date, not a permanent state. - Bentiu Local Petroleum Refinery Operational Capacity: Unity State Information Ministry Press Briefing records 5,000 bpd operational capacity, UNMISS Field Environmental Team & Nilepet Engineering Audit records 0 bpd (Cold Standby / Maintenance). The register attributes the divergence to: "Trial testing runs of distillation units were publicly announced as full commercial operations before mandatory emissions and safety certifications were finalized."
Rule: Publish both positions from the contradiction register with their own sources and dates, and carry the register's stated root cause. SSIP does not choose between them and does not average them.
Does not establish: Which figure is correct. The register records these as measuring different things on different bases; where that is so, both can be right and neither answers the other's question.
What SSIP does not hold
- A capacity statement, not a measurement of anything produced.
How to read this
Every figure on this page carries an evidence state — Verified, Operational, Announced, Estimated, Inferred, Disputed, Simulated, Reference or Unavailable — and each state has a stated definition. SSIP does not present an estimate as an observation, and it does not record a missing value as zero.
Read the methodology · Open the evidence ledger · See declared gaps
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Cite as: “Bentiu refinery, stated capacity · Operational indicator”. Strategic Systems Intelligence. https://ssintelligence.online/indicators/refinery-bentiu-capacity. Last updated . Carry the evidence state with any figure you quote.
Methodology · Sources · Corrections — if a record here is wrong, the corrections log is where it is fixed in public.