13th January, 2024
….Dangote says commencement of refinery operation a big day for Nigeria
By Ayoride Oluokun/Abuja
The President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has said diesel and aviation fuel produced from his giant refinery in Lagos, South West Nigeria will be available before the end of January 2024.
The billionaire businessman said this while announcing the commencement of operation by the refinery with the production of diesel and aviation fuel in a statement by Mr Anthony Chiejina, Group Head, Corporate Communications, Dangote Group on Friday.
The 650,000 barrels per day (BPD) Dangote integrated refinery project located in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos, Nigeria is the world’s biggest single-train facility.
The refinery can meet Nigerian requirements for all refined products and also have a surplus of each of these products for export when it commences full operation.
Nigeria currently relies on importation for its refined petroleum needs and the commencement of operation of the refinery is expected to the reliance on imports.
While expressing his hopes over the prospects the refinery holds for Nigeria, Dangote said: “We have started the production of diesel and aviation fuel, and the products will be in the market before the end of the month.
“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 actualisation of this project.
“The refinery has so far received six million barrels of crude oil at its two SPMs located 25 kilometres from the shore.
“The first crude delivery was done on Dec. 12, 2023, and the 6th cargo was delivered on Jan. 8, 2024,” he added.
He said that the refinery can load 2,900 trucks a day at its truck-loading gantries.
He added that the products from the refinery will conform to Euro V specifications.
Dangote boss said that the refinery design complies with the World Bank, US EPA, European emission norms, and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) emission/effluent norms. State-of-the-art technology.
Dangote also thanked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd., the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and Nigerians for their support and belief in the historic project.
According to him, “We thank President Tinubu for his support and for making our dream come true.
“This production, as witnessed today, would not have been possible without his visionary leadership and prompt attention to detail.
“His intervention at various stages cleared all impediments, thereby accelerating the actualisation of the project.
“We also thank the NNPCL, NUPRC and NMDPRA for their support.
“These organisations have been our dependable partners in this historic journey.
“We also thank Nigerians for their belief and support in this project,” he said.
“I must extend our sincere appreciation to our Bankers and financiers, both local and offshore, who demonstrated a great deal of patience, in seeing us through many difficult times.
“In the same vein, we thank the Government of Lagos State, under the leadership of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who has been incredibly proactive in ensuring that the many challenges we encountered in the course of executing this project were quickly resolved.
“I thank him immensely.
“I also sincerely thank our host communities and their traditional leaders for their sustained patience, forbearance, and admirable willingness to work with us to find amicable and win-win resolutions to the many issues we have had to deal with as the construction of this huge facility progressed.
“Our staff have also contributed so immensely to the success of this project. I thank them profusely,” Dangote added.