Aliko Dangote, the Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group, has announced that the Dangote Refinery has been granted a permit to refine a minimum of 300,000 barrels of Nigerian crude oil each day, with operations set to commence shortly.
Dangote made this announcement during an interview in Riyadh, amid the ongoing Saudi-Nigeria business forum.
‘We prefer to kick-start our refinery with Nigerian crude rather than foreign imports,’ the tycoon shared with Bloomberg.
‘We are fully prepared and our petrol products will hit the market soon.’
Africa Today News, New York, recalled that the refinery, with a daily capacity of 650,000 barrels, was initially slated to begin production by the end of July, a deadline it failed to meet.
The notable businessman has faced considerable criticism on social media due to the delay in starting operations.
Discussing the imminent launch of the refinery’s operations, Dangote stated that it would start production “in the very near future”.
He emphasized that the refinery’s first priority is to cater to Nigeria’s petrol needs before considering exports, including to countries in the West African region.
Dangote mentioned that the 650,000 barrels-per-day facility, which is anticipated to produce 27 million litres of diesel, 11 million litres of kerosene, and nine million litres of jet fuel daily, will source crude from other producers in Nigeria, as well as the country’s state oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The NNPC is slated to allocate six million barrels of crude oil to the Dangote Refinery in December 2023.
In related news, the national oil company announced the introduction of the Nembe crude oil grade to the market earlier this week.
According to Africa Today News, New York, the Nembe crude stream will be managed and marketed by a partnership between the NNPC and Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company.
