The long-awaited Dangote refinery heralded as a game-changer for Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa, will receive its initial shipment of crude in the next two weeks.
Dangote Group Executive Director, Deva Kumar Edwin, who revealed this yesterday, said as from October onwards, it is set to commence the production of approximately 370,000 barrels per day (b/d) of diesel and jet fuel.
If achieved, the refinery’s maximum intended capacity of 650,000 bpd will make Nigeria self-sufficient in fuels while leaving ample for export. The refinery will initially focus on diesel and jet fuel.
The Executive Director, who provided more details about the timeline, challenges, and delays faced since the project was proposed in 2013, said, “Right now, we are ready to receive crude. We are just waiting for the first vessel. And so as soon as it comes in, we can start”.
The Dangote Refinery is yet to begin operations following the August commencement date announced earlier by President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote. The refinery’s maximum intended capacity of 650,000 bpd will make Nigeria self-sufficient in fuels, while leaving ample for export.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest producer currently imports all of its refined goods, depleting its foreign exchange reserves. However, delays and cost overruns caused many to doubt that Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, would ever deliver.
Although the refinery was designed to process light sweet Nigerian crude, state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, (NNPCL), which is a shareholder in the project, cannot supply the refinery until November, Edwin said, and therefore, Dangote is buying oil from trading houses.
Edwin said the scale of the refinery meant being “solely dependent on Nigerian crude would not be advisable”, meaning the refinery can process most African crudes — apart from heavy Angolan grades — as well as Middle-Eastern Arab Light and even US light tight oil.
Although discussions started as far back as 2013, Edwin said Dangote only began physical construction five years ago following a string of delays and mishaps. He said the first plot of land in a free-trade-zone in Ogun State was ditched following potentially ‘disastrous’ political interference.
Meanwhile, fuel costs in Nigeria have risen since President Bola Tinubu eliminated an expensive subsidy in late May.
