Just In : Dangote Gives Condition For His Refinery To Start Production by December 2023
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the owner of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Project, a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited, recently shared insights in an interview with the Financial Times, excerpts of which were published by Nigeria’s Daily Telegraph.
According to him, if the Dangote Group can secure an adequate supply of crude oil and the refinery operates as intended, there is a possibility that it could commence the production of diesel, kerosene, and jet fuel as early as next month (December).
In the Financial Times publication on Saturday, November 25, 2023, Dangote stated, “We’re starting with 350,000 barrels a day.” He mentioned that a deal had already been finalized for the “first cargo of about 6 million barrels” scheduled for delivery next month.
Dangote expressed optimism that the refinery could achieve its full capacity of 650,000 barrels a day by the end of 2024.
He also remarked on the “shameful” situation where Nigeria, a significant oil producer for over 50 years, has been unable to refine its own crude oil in a quantity sufficient for its needs.
FT reported: “At full tilt, the refinery, the world’s largest “single train” facility with just one distillation unit, could save Nigeria billions in foreign exchange currently spent on imported fuel.”
As per the Financial Times (FT) report, Dangote dismissed suggestions that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company of Nigeria Limited (NNPCL) was adopting a tough stance to negotiate a larger stake in the refinery. He clarified that the refinery, expected to generate annual revenue of $25 billion at full capacity, was not subject to such negotiations.
FT highlighted that Dangote had to undertake substantial efforts to build the colossal project on 2,500 hectares of swampy land outside Lagos. This included constructing a private port and road for receiving heavy equipment, establishing his own trucking company for transportation, and setting up an independent industrial welding facility for assembly.
According to the report, Dangote mentioned that he laid enough cable to encircle the globe twice and moved a staggering 65 million tonnes of sand in the process.
He said: “I don’t think NNPC needs to buy more shares. I think they’re OK with what we’ve given them.” Dangote, according to FT, said the refinery would eventually be floated as a separate company, initially on the Lagos stock exchange.
“You will not see this kind of project in Nigeria in the next 20 years. No outside contractor had been willing to take on Nigerian risk, so I had to design and build the whole thing in-house.
“We didn’t cut costs. We didn’t cut corners. “We didn’t do it for people to clap us. We did it for posterity.”
