The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is 97% completed.
In a statement released on Thursday in Lagos and signed by Mr Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief Branding and Communication Officer, Dangote Industry Ltd., NMDPRA Chief Executive Mr Farouk Ahmed made the announcement.
When the Dangote refinery’s representatives went to the regulatory agency in Abuja to present the facility’s work plan for 2022/2023, Ahmed made the remarks.
Ahmed says that the output of Nigeria’s ageing refining infrastructure will be tripled by the Dangote refinery, which has a capacity of 650,000 bpd.
Eventually, fuel would begin to flow from the facility, he added, adding that it was also designed to provide all of Nigeria’s refined product needs.
He said that Nigeria’s foreign exchange would be significantly impacted by import substitution and huge savings in earnings with the successful completion of Africa’s largest petroleum refinery and the world’s largest single-train facility.
From what he has heard, the national currency will be less stressed once the refinery is up and running, and sales at the refinery are expected to bring in a lot of foreign currency.
“Upon completion of the refinery, it is estimated that Nigeria will import zero petroleum oil products – down from approximately $50 billion in current oil product imports per year.
“Today, representatives of the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals presented their 2022/2023 work plan to the authority which showed that the refinery project is estimated to be at 97 per cent completion.
“The refinery is a 650,000 barrels per day integrated refinery project under construction in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos.
“It is expected to be Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility,” he said.
Ahmed emphasised the refinery’s significance to the country and promised that the authority will provide the resources needed to get construction and operations underway as soon as possible.
Mr. Devakumar Edwin, Group Executive Director of Strategy, Portfolio Development, and Capital Projects of Dangote Industries Ltd., believes the refinery will spur economic growth in Nigeria.
Edwin elaborated that the project could produce enough gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation jet to supply the entire country, with a surplus to spare.
He claimed that the refinery’s massive output of refined petroleum products will make Nigeria independent of foreign suppliers of gasoline for the first time in its history.
Edwin estimated that over 100,000 young Nigerians will be employed directly or indirectly as a result of the project, and he indicated that over 30,000 individuals were already working on the site.
He went on to say that the refinery had its own independent steam and power generation system with sufficient standby units to ensure that the running facilities had a constant and uninterrupted supply of utility power.
“It also has a self-sufficient marine facility with the ability for freight optimisation; the largest single order of 5 SPMs anywhere in the world; Crude SPM for unloading ships up to ULCCs; 3 product SPM for product exports up to Suez Max vessels and 2 X 48” subsea crude pipelines with interconnection.
“Dangote industries have developed a port and constructed quays with loading bearing capacity of 25 tonnes/sq meters to bring over dimensional cargoes close to the site directly to handle liquid cargoes.
“The jetty is situated at a distance of 12.3 km from the refinery thereby effectively reducing the travel time.
“Dangote Petroleum Refinery maintains high standards for all its business practices, valuing health, safety, environment and rights for its employees, compliances with all applicable local and international laws, and being a committed partner to communities, governments and the environment,” Edwin added.
