Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has said that the construction of Dangote Refinery is now 71% complete.
The refinery is expected to become Africa’s largest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility upon completion.
The $12-billion Dangote Refinery will have the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels per day. Dangote Industries Executive Director Devakumar Edwin says the facility is set to be operational early next year.
It was also recently reported that Dangote Group’s fertilizer plant, will be ready to start production late this year, according to contractor Saipem SpA. The facility will have a capacity of 3 million tons a year of urea and ammonia, making it the world’s largest.
The chief operating officer of Saipem SpA, Maurizio Coratella, was quoted as saying that, “Train two commissioning and testing will start soon, as such activities will be overlapped with train one. The project is planned for completion within the end of 2020, with train one starting production within weeks and train two following soon after.”
Nigeria’s existing refineries have remained moribund for some time now, thereby leaving the country to virtually depend on importation for all its petroleum products consumption.
However, the Director of the Department Petroleum Resources, Auwalu Sarki is optimistic that Nigeria’s local refining capacity will soon exceed her consumption. According to Auwalu, the various reforms currently being embarked on by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Source are capable of driving the change.
Dangote Refinery is expected to commence operations with a capacity of 650,000 b/d of crude oil.
The Refinery is touted to have the capacity to meet 100 per cent of the domestic requirement of all liquid petroleum products (Gasoline, Diesel, Kerosene and Aviation fuel), leaving the surplus for export.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), in its Oil 2019 Report, said an increase in the number of new refining capacity, expected to extend till the end of 2024, signifies major competition ahead for the oil industry.
Chibisi Ohakah, Abuja
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