The Dangote Refinery is scheduled to begin refining diesel and jet fuel in October 2023, and petrol refining in November 2023.
According to The Times, the executive director of the Dangote Group, Devakumar Edwin, said so in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights on September 18.
He claimed that in the following two weeks, the Dangote refinery will receive its first shipment of oil, and starting in October 2023, it would start producing up to 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel.
He added that the refinery will begin a gradual ramp-up to 650,000 barrels of petrol per day on 30 November.
Edwin explained to S&P that the NNPCL had stated that they had committed their crude on a forward basis to someone else, explaining why they didn’t have the crude right away.
He said that by November 2023, the refinery should only be using crude from Nigeria, and that this is only a short-term problem.
He added that because the oil is located in a free zone outside of Lagos, it will be bought in US dollars rather than Nigerian naira.
The majority of African crudes, with the exception of heavy Angolan grades, Middle Eastern Arab Light, and even US light tight oil, can be processed at the Dangote refinery, according to Edwin.
“We can even take certain Russian grades,” he remarked, “if the world system opens up to let us get them. In essence, if you take a look at our production profile, 50% of my production will satisfy 100% of the national requirements.”
According to Edwin, the Dangote refinery will be very helpful for Nigeria by ensuring a steady supply of refined goods that are “environmentally friendly” and by bringing in a sizable amount of foreign currency, according to S&P.
He claimed that the refinery will also help to alleviate a fuel shortage in import-dependent West Africa, where Nigeria’s recently removed fuel subsidy has given rise to a booming black market for petrol amid price swings.
He also mentioned that because Aliko Dangote’s attention is constantly on Nigeria, the money returning to the refinery business will be used for more investments.
