Africa’s Largest Refinery to Finally Begin Operations as Dangote Receives Initial Crude
- The Dangote Refinery is finally set to commence operations in the country after a long wait
- This is as the biggest African refinery received its first batch of crude feedstock on December 7
- The product was delivered in a land port close to Dangote's offshore crude receiving terminal
Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over three years of experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.
Dangote Refinery reportedly received its first crude feedstock on December 7, 2023. The product was scheduled for delivery by 7pm.
S&P Global announced this, citing market sources and tanker tracking data.
Source: UGC
The OTIS tanker, which loaded a 950,000-barrel cargo of Nigeria's Agbami crude on December 6, was on its way to Lekki, the nearest land port to Dangote's offshore crude receiving terminal.
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Agbami is one of Nigeria's most extensive deep-water operations, pumping roughly 100,000 barrels daily under Chevron's operation. Its product yields a large proportion of naphtha and kerosene.
Production delayed
The production of oil products has been hampered by the shortage of indigenous crude feedstock, even though the refinery was officially completed in May 2024.
The refinery has been repeatedly delayed since 2013, when the project was unveiled.
Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, in a recent report, said that petrol from his 650,000bpd-capacity refinery will be available to Nigerians soon.
With the goal of kickstarting operations, the NNPC, which holds a 20% share in the refinery, recently signed a deal to send 6 million barrels of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in December as feedstock.
Expectations for the refinery
The crude distillation unit is engineered to process three Nigerian crude grades: Escravos, Bonny Light, and Forcados. It is designed to process 12 crudes at once.
Based on earlier Dangote presentations, when the plant is fully operational, it will produce 327,000 barrels of gasoline, 244,000 barrels of gas oil/diesel, 56,000 barrels of jet fuel/kerosene, and 290,000 metric tons of propane/LPG annually.
Nigeria expects the Dangote refinery to assist in reducing its reliance on imported gasoline.
The country's present refineries are in bad condition and closed for maintenance.
Therefore, the government must import between one and two million metric tons of gasoline monthly to meet domestic demand.
S&P Global analysts predict that the refinery won't reach its maximum capacity until the middle of 2025, with more delays expected to happen.
S&P Global forecasts that Nigeria will produce more gasoline than it imports until the 2040s because of the new refinery.
Dangote to list $20bn refinery on Nigerian Exchange, urges public to get ready
Legit.ng reported that Dangote disclosed his intention to publicly list his 560,000-capacity refinery on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
The billionaire revealed this during an interview with the Financial Times, saying that the company has resolved issues about crude oil supply and is prepared for the listing.
The development aligns with Dangote's more extensive business plans and could positively affect the company's valuation and investor engagement.
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Source: Legit.ng
