Nigeria’s Dangote refinery commences production after years of delays

Earlier in the week, the arrival of the sixth crude cargo from the Agbami field in the Niger Delta brought the total crude stock received at the facility to six million barrels of oil, the required amount to bring the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) facility to life.

The first crude delivery took place on December 12, 2023, and the sixth cargo was successfully delivered on January 8, 2024.

Discussing this milestone, Aliko Dangote, the President of Dangote Group, expressed gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support and stressed the importance of the facility.

“We thank President Bola Tinubu for his support and for making our dream come true… We have started the production of diesel and aviation fuel, and the products will be in the market within this month once we receive regulatory approvals,”

“This is a big day for Nigeria. We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone. This is an important achievement for our country as it demonstrates our ability to develop and deliver large capital projects,”

“This is a game changer for our country, and I am very fulfilled with the actualization of this project.”

The refinery’s operation is expected to turn Africa’s largest oil producer into a net exporter of fuels, a long-sought goal for the OPEC member that almost totally relies on imports.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, but it imports refined petrol despite having refineries that have become dysfunctional. Oil explorers in the country export crude to foreign refiners and import it back to the country for sale to downstream players, eroding its foreign exchange reserves.

The refinery, expected to generate 27 million litres of diesel, 11 million litres of kerosene, and 9 million litres of jet fuel, will source crude from various producers in Nigeria, including the country’s state oil company.

Nigerian oil firms have been mandated to provide 483,000 bpd to the Dangote refinery, and five other refineries in the first half of 2024. The 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery will receive the biggest volume of 325,000 bpd.

Dangote earlier confirmed that the long-awaited refinery is starting with 350,000 barrels a day. The Refinery can load 2,900 trucks a day at its truck-loading gantries, and the products from the Refinery will conform to Euro V specifications.

The refinery design also complies with the World Bank, US EPA, European emission norms, and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) emission/effluent norms. Employing state-of-the-art technology.

Last year, Dangote announced intentions to publicly list the Dangote Petroleum Refinery on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.