By Dipo Olowookere
The sixth crude oil cargo of one million barrels has been delivered to Dangote Refinery, which said it was now ready to commence production after it was commissioned by former President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2023.
A statement from the company on Monday disclosed that the Agbami barrels of crude, which were brought by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited via the MT ALMI SUN, are the last cargo to complete the initial scheduled six-million-barrel consignment for the commencement of operations.
The Dangote Refinery, which has an installed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is designed for 100 per cent Nigerian crude with the flexibility to process other crudes, including most African crude grades as well as Middle Eastern Arab Light and even US Light tight oil.
The facility can meet 100 per cent of Nigeria’s requirement for all refined products—gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation jets—and has a surplus of each of these products for export.
The refinery was first scheduled to be completed before 2019, according to the then Minister of Petroleum, Mr Ibe Kachukwu, but this was not achieved.
Last May, a few days before the expiration of the 8-year term of Mr Buhari, the oil facility was commissioned, but it could not produce crude oil. It was later disclosed that the NNPC was unable to supply the commodity to the refinery, which is located in Lagos.
About a month ago, the state-owned oil firm supplied the first one million barrels of Agbami crude grade from Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (STASCO), to the new refinery.
Since then, Dangote Refinery has been receiving the crude oil in batches, and the sixth batch of one million barrels of Agbami crude got discharged yesterday at the Single Point Mooring (SPM-C2) at the Dangote Offshore Oil Terminal (DOOT).
It would be recalled that the Managing Director of Dangote Ports Operations, Mr Akin Omole, had told newsmen at the Dangote Quay, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, that the refinery would be in good stead to commence operation once the 6 million barrels of crude had been delivered.
“Once the six million barrels are fully delivered, it will facilitate the initial run of the refinery as well as kick-start the production of diesel, aviation fuel, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) before subsequently progressing to the production of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS),” he said.
This latest development will play a pivotal role in alleviating the fuel supply challenges faced by Nigeria as well as the West African countries.
Modupe Gbadeyanka