Africa’s wealthiest man,Aliko Dangote, has announced that his refinery has obtained a license to process over 300,000 barrels of Nigerian crude daily and is set to commence gasoline production soon.
“We don’t want to start our refinery with foreign goods, we want to start with the Nigerian crude,” Dangote said in an interview in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Saudi-Nigeria business roundtable, according to Bloomberg.
“We’re more than ready and you will see our gasoline products soon,” he added.
Despite initially aiming for production to commence in August, the refinery faced delays, along with several others over the years. Nevertheless, Dangote remains adamant that his refinery will begin production “very, very soon.”
The refinery’s primary focus is supplying gasoline to Nigeria before considering exports to other regions, including West Africa, as stated by Dangote.
According to The PUNCH, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, under the guidance of the Executive Director of Dangote Group, Devakumar Edwin, was importing crude oil and anticipated its first cargo in approximately two weeks.
Despite the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited trading crude oil on behalf of Nigeria, Edwin disclosed in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights that the NNPCL had committed its crude to other entities.
The head of the Dangote refinery did not reveal the recipients of the oil company’s crude, but in August, the NNPCL disclosed a $3 billion crude oil-for-loan deal with the African Export-Import Bank.
Dangote, with an estimated fortune of $16.2 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, stated that the 650,000 barrel-a-day facility is anticipated to yield 27 million litres of diesel, 11 million litres of kerosene, and nine million litres of jet fuel.
The refinery will source crude from various Nigerian producers and the state oil company. Nigeria’s oil output increased by 60,000 barrels per day last month, reaching 1.49 million barrels per day, the highest in almost two years.
The nation has introduced a new crude grade called Nembe, managed and marketed through a joint venture between the state-owned NNPC and oil firm Aiteo Eastern E&P Co. Ltd.
