The completion of Dangote Refinery in 2019 will mark another milestone in the Nigerian oil and gas industry as it will turn the country into petroleum products export nation.
The reputation of being the largest economy in Africa is worth almost nothing, if Nigeria perpetually remains a consumer nation, not producing finished goods for export.
The new refinery will produce 650,000 barrels per day of refined petroleum products to meet Nigeria’s refined petroleum products needs as well as export to other countries.
Ahead of the completion of the refinery, recently the petroleum importing African nations and Bulk Oil Distributors based in Ghana expressed eagerness to patronise the Nigerian Refinery when production starts.
The oil buyers said arrangements have been put in place to import petroleum products from the world’s largest single-train refinery, owned by the foremost industrialist and situated in Lekki, Lagos state.
Hints of eager expectation and hopes on the Dangote Refinery were revealed at this year’s Ghanaian International Petroleum conference (Ghipcon 2018) which held in Accra, Ghana.
Participants at the international conference as well as oil distributors and marketers from various countries were eager to know how they could key in for supplies from the 650,000 barrel per day refinery that is preparing to take the continent by storm.
The Ghanaian government expressed the view that dealing with Dangote refinery for petroleum import would be a better business for African nations than depending on the international market for the supply of refined petroleum products, “we will rather purchase from the Dangote Refinery due to the proximity of the refinery to Ghana and other neighbours.’’
President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, who was represented by Vice-President Alhaji Mahamud Bawumia, said African nations are anxiously waiting for Dangote Refinery.
During their visit to the Dangote oil exhibition stand, the Ghanaian Vice-President and the Minister of Energy Hon. Boakye Agyarko were amazed at the size of the project and expressed satisfaction with the pace of work being done at the refinery as explained to them by Engr. Babajide Soyode, the Technical Adviser to the President of Dangote Group on Refinery and Petrochemical matters, who led the Dangote Refinery team to the Conference.
Vice President Bawumia commended Alhaji Aliko Dangote on the initiative which is 100 per cent privately funded and expressed the hope that Ghana would stand to benefit from the project when it is completed.
On his part the Minister of Energy, Hon. Boakye Agyarko said it would take a big heart to embark on such a gigantic project and lauded the efforts of Africa’s richest man in trying to meet the needs of the people.
He noted that projects such as this is what Africa needs to develop, and that Ghana is ready to fully support Aliko to achieve his objectives of building a petrochemical plant to meet the energy needs of Ghana and the rest of Africa.
According to him, the completion of the project would culminate in the integration of the downstream industries, lower cost of business and reduce the prices of petroleum products across the sub-region. Ghana is said to have a favorable petroleum market environment and investments in infrastructure such as oil jetties, pipeline and distribution infrastructure, refineries and gas processing plants, storage and loading gantries are welcome.
Soyode noted that Alhaji Aliko Dangote will always do his best in whatever sector of the economy he ventures into, and that is why this refinery will be completed and meet the needs of Nigeria, West Africa and the entire African continent.
He went further to state that the Nigerian government has been supportive of the refinery citing the visit of Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu to the site of the Refinery during which he said the government would support efforts toward its completion.
“I have made very firm commitment to Nigerians that I must stop the importation of petroleum products by 2019 and I am going to keep to it”, Kachikwu was quoted to have said.
Soyode told his guests that in addition to the refinery, the Dangote Group is also building the largest sub-sea pipeline infrastructure in any country in the world, with a length of 1,100km, to handle 3 billion SCF of gas per day.
“There is also the plan to construct a 570 MW power plant in this complex. The gas from the gas pipeline will augment the natural domestic gas supply and it is estimated that an additional 12,000MW of power generation can be added to the grid with the additional gas from the Dangote system.”
Meanwhile, during a media parley, the group’s executive director, Stakeholders’ Relations/Corporate Communications, Ahmed Mansur said the refinery’s daily production capacity would be 150 per cent of the current total demand of petroleum products in the country, saying that the excess would be exported to other countries.
Mansur said a 1.3 million metric tonnes per annum petrochemical plant was also under construction at the refinery site in Lekki area of Lagos. In addition , he said that a fertiliser company with capacity to produce 2.8 million metric tonnes of assorted fertilisers was also being added to help the country to achieve food security.
Mansur disclosed that the company had also diversified into gas business as it had started constructing a gas pipeline from the South East to Lagos, saying that the gas plant, when completed, would have the capacity to produce three million standard cubic metres of gas per annum.
The executive director said the project would help the country to record appreciable improvement in power and manufacturing sectors. According to him, the company’s huge investment in the oil and gas sector will impact positively in the economy, especially in the areas of employment and preservation of foreign exchange.
Dangote Oil Refinery Company is projected to be the world’s biggest single-train facility, upon completion in 2019. The refinery will produce Euro-V quality gasoline and diesel, as well as jet fuel and polypropylene. The project is expected to generate 9,500 direct and 25,000 indirect jobs.
The refinery will produce an annual refining capacity of 10.4 million tonnes (Mt) of gasoline, in addition to 4.6Mt of diesel and 4Mt of jet fuel. It will also produce 0.69Mt of polypropylene,0.24Mt of propane, 32,000t of sulphur and 0.5Mt of carbon black feed.
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