After its inauguration seven months ago, the Dangote Refinery, the largest single-train refinery in the world, has commenced production, the company has announced.
Located in Nigeria’s commercial hub of Lagos, the refinery began operations in the early hours of Friday following the delivery of six million barrels of crude supply to the refinery.
“Dangote Petroleum Refinery can meet 100 per cent of Nigeria’s requirement of all refined products, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation jet, and also have surplus of each of these products for export,” the company said in a statement obtained by Persecondnews.
Although it was supposed to begin operations in June 2023, the oil refinery built by Aliko Dangote received its first crude deliveries late last year in a step to starting up the delayed megaproject.
The facility sits on 2,635 hectares (6,500 acres) of land at the Lekki Free Zone on the edge of Lagos city and costs an estimated $19 billion.
As Africa’s largest, the 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote refinery could be a game changer for Nigeria’s economy when fully operational by helping end the country’s reliance on fuel imports.
The initial run will be for the production of diesel and aviation fuel before moving on to petrol output.
Though one of Africa’s largest oil producers and the continent’s top economy, Nigeria relies almost totally on imported fuel and diesel because of a lack of refining capacity.
Fuel imports and subsidies caused a huge drain on foreign exchange when Nigeria was struggling with dwindling oil revenues and foreign currency shortages.
The refinery which was scheduled to open in 2021, was officially inaugurated by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari on May 23, 2023, few days to handing over to the President-elect, Bola Tinubu on May 29.
Buhari described the project as “a notable milestone” and “a game changer for the downstream petroleum products market, not only in Nigeria but for the entire African continent.”
Built by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, once at full capacity, it will have the ability to process 650,000 barrels a day, according to the company.
“Once our plant is fully commissioned… we expect that at least 40 percent of the capacity will be available for export, and this will result in significant foreign exchange entering the country,” said Dangote on the occasion.
The Presidents of Ghana, Niger, Togo, Senegal and a representative of the Chadian leader were present at the inauguration at Lekki, Lagos.
The refinery is expected to meet Nigeria’s domestic demand as well as serve global markets, Dangote said.
Since coming to office in May, President Bola Tinubu has abolished the decades of petrol subsidy and floated the Naira as part of his economic reforms to attract foreign investment and build long-term growth.
Persecondnews reports that just as the Dangote refinery begins production, the Port Harcourt Refinery is also expected to start production shortly following the completion of its rehabilitation by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd.
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