By Daniel Edu
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest individual, has announced that his refinery has obtained a license to refine over 300,000 barrels of Nigerian crude oil per day. He stated that the refinery will soon commence the processing of gasoline, with a focus on using Nigerian crude for its operations.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Saudi-Nigeria business roundtable in Riyadh, Dangote expressed the refinery’s readiness to begin production. While the initial target for production commencement in August was missed, Dangote remains confident that the refinery will start producing “very very soon.”
The first priority for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is to supply gasoline to Nigeria before expanding its exports to other regions, including West Africa. The facility, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is expected to produce 27 million liters of diesel, 11 million liters of kerosene, and nine million liters of jet fuel.
It’s worth noting that, in a previous report, the Dangote refinery was said to have started importing crude oil and was expecting its first cargo in about two weeks, according to Devakumar Edwin, the Executive Director of Dangote Group. However, the specific entities receiving the crude were not disclosed at that time.
Dangote emphasized that the refinery will utilize crude from various producers in Nigeria, as well as from the country’s state oil company. Nigeria’s oil output recently increased to 1.49 million barrels per day, marking the highest level in almost two years. The nation introduced a new grade of crude called Nembe, managed through a joint venture between the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and Aiteo Eastern E&P Co. Ltd.
Crude theft and pipeline attacks in the Niger Delta have posed challenges to Nigeria’s ability to meet its production quota, impacting revenue targets for the country.
