As pre-commissioning tests reach concluding stages, the world’s largest refinery in a single production, Dangote Refinery has been scheduled to start production in March 2023, an inside source revealed.
With a capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day and an estimated annual refining capacity of 10.4 million tonnes of petrol, Dangote Refinery will serve both the Nigerian market as well as the neighbouring countries.
Situated in the Lekki part of Lagos State, it is expected to double Nigeria’s refining capacity and help in meeting the increasing demand for refined petroleum products, while providing cost and foreign exchange savings.
Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari who doubles as the Minister of Petroleum is expected to commission the refinery before he leaves office on May 29, Investors King learnt.
It would be recalled that the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kolo Kyari earlier said that the Federal Government is expecting the Dangote Refinery project to take off in the first quarter of 2023.
Kyari also added that NNPC had acquired a 20 percent stake in the oil refinery built by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
With the capacity to generate at least 4,000 direct and about 145,000 indirect jobs, the Dangote refinery is expected to be a critical component of Nigeria’s economy. The refinery will also produce aviation fuel which has been a huge challenge for the country’s aviation industry.
Similarly, while expenditure on fuel subsidies has now hit N6 trillion because of the price of crude oil which has for the most part of 2022 remained above $100 per barrel, the Federal Government is hoping for Dangote Refinery to end its fuel importation challenges.
Experts and International financial institutions have warned that fuel subsidies will further complicate Nigeria’s financial woes.
However, the government’s will to remove fuel subsidies at different times has been confronted with opposition, especially from the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) which insisted that the federal government must build up local refining capacity and stop the importation of petroleum products before embarking on the removal of fuel subsidy.
