NEWS

Nigeria: Dangote refinery prepares to receive its first crude cargo

Published

12 month ago

11 December 2023

SOW

Nigeria: Dangote refinery prepares to receive its first crude cargo

Dangote's Nigerian oil refinery is set to receive its first delivery of one million barrels of crude oil from Shell International Trading and Shipping Co (STASCO) later on Friday, bringing the start-up of operations a step closer after years of delay.

Once fully operational, the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery financed by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, will transform Nigeria from an oil powerhouse into a net exporter of fuels, a long-sought goal for the OPEC member that relies almost entirely on imports.

The Dangote group said in a statement that the delivery of one million barrels of Agbami crude, which it had purchased, was the first of six million barrels that would enable the refinery to start operations.

This will enable production of diesel, jet fuel and liquefied petroleum gas to start up, before the refinery begins producing Premium Motor Spirit.

A spokesman for the Dangote group said the STASCO shipment should arrive at the refinery on Friday.

The next four cargoes will be supplied by the national oil company NNPC in two to three weeks, and a final cargo will come from ExxonMobil, according to the Dangote Group press release.

Despite being Africa's largest oil producer, Nigeria is experiencing repeated fuel shortages. Last year, it spent $23.3 billion on petroleum product imports and consumes around 33 million liters of gasoline a day.

"Our goal for the coming months is to bring the refinery up to full capacity," Dangote said in the statement.

Nigeria commissioned the refinery in May, after years of delay. At a cost of $19 billion, the huge petrochemical complex is one of Nigeria's biggest investments.