The Dangote Refinery has secured a license to refine over 300,000 barrels of crude per day.
This is according to Alhaji Aliko Dangote. He said this during an interview on the sidelines of the Saudi-Nigeria business roundtable in Riyadh on November 11.
Bloomberg reports that during the interview, Dangote said that the refinery will begin refining activities soon. According to him, the refinery’s priority is to supply petrol to Nigeria before exporting anywhere else including other parts of West Africa.
He said:
- “We do not want to start our refinery with foreign goods, we want to start with the Nigerian crude. We are more than ready, and you will see our gasoline products soon.”
He also noted that his refinery is expected to produce 27 million litres of diesel, 11 million litres of kerosene and 9 million litres of jet fuel and is set to receive crude from other producers in Nigeria, as well as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Recall that Nairametrics recently reported that the NNPCL has outlined a strategy to supply the Dangote oil refinery with up to six shipments of crude oil in December for testing purposes.
According to industry sources from both NNPCL and the Dangote refinery, this move is part of a one-year agreement.
According to a Reuters report, the December shipments would total 200,000 barrels per day. The specific volumes for the subsequent months will be determined through mutual agreement and based on availability.
Other sources suggest a plan for 4-5 cargoes, amounting to at least 130,000 barrels per day.
Also recall that in September 2023, Devakumar Edwin, Executive Director at the Dangote Group, shared exclusive insights in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights.
He indicated that the Dangote refinery had set its sights on commencing diesel and jet fuel refining operations by October 2023, followed by the initiation of petrol refining in November 2023.
At the time, he said that the facility is geared to produce up to 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel starting in October 2023.
Additionally, he mentioned that by November 30, the refinery is scheduled to begin the phased ramp-up to reach its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day for petrol production. But the timeline was missed.
What you should know
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has declared its intention to enforce domestic crude oil supply obligations to local refineries. In a meeting with crude suppliers on November 1 in Abuja, the Chief Executive of the Commission, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe reaffirmed the commitment to uphold the requirements outlined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of 2021.
Engr. Komolafe stressed the importance of compliance with the prevailing laws of the PIA during the stakeholder meeting at the Commission’s headquarters.
He specifically pointed to Section 109 of the Act, which empowers the NUPRC to allocate domestic crude oil supply obligations based on the National Crude Oil requirement demand curve to respective lessees.
Emphasizing the enforcement of all aspects of the PIA, he urged crude oil producers to consistently provide the NUPRC with details regarding their committed and uncommitted barrels.