By Adedapo Adesanya
Mr Aliko Dangote has disclosed that the first batch of products of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals should be expected latest August as the country moves toward self-sufficiency in refined fuels.
Speaking on Monday, the billionaire said the first product from the mega-complex structure “will be in the market before the end of July, beginning of August this year”.
The President of Dangote Industries Limited stated this while giving the welcome address at the inauguration of the 650,000 barrels per day refinery in Lagos State today.
“Beyond today’s ceremony, our first goal is to ramp up production of the various products to ensure that within this year, we’re able to fully satisfy our nation’s demand for higher quality products,” he said.
“Beyond this, we intend to ensure that our plants are run at the highest capacity of utilisation and the highest efficiency to enable us to export competitively to other markets, especially in the ECOWAS and wider regions in which 53 countries out of 55 are dependent on imports to meet their petroleum products demand,” he added.
He also posited that the refinery would enable Nigeria to eliminate “the tragedy of import dependency” as well as halt toxic, substandard petroleum products from being dumped in Nigeria.
Currently the world’s largest single-train refinery and located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, the facility has been touted to meet the needs of Nigerian consumers and those in neighbouring countries while allowing for exports beyond the African continent.
The refinery will also drive the promotion of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as over 50 countries in the trade bloc depend on imported refined petroleum products.
Speaking about the magnificent plant, the CEO of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, Mr Sanjay Gupta, stated that “everything in this plant by way of size is the first. It is the largest single-train refinery in the world.
“There is no single column which can process 650,000 barrels per day anywhere else,” he bragged.
It has the capacity to meet 100 per cent of the Nigerian requirement of all refined products (gasoline, 53 million litres per day; diesel, 34 million litres per day; kerosene, 10 million litres per day, and aviation jet, 2 million litres per day) and also have a surplus of each of these products for export.
