Dangote Refinery is awaiting the delivery of the fifth one million barrels of crude from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) as the build-up to the six million barrels needed for the plant to commence its refining.
The company said NNPCL has delivered another one million barrels of crude oil to the refinery being the fourth fresh one million barrel of crude oil that has been supplied to the refinery in the last few weeks.
The refinery is scheduled to receive six million barrels of crude before the commencement of production.
In a statement, the company yesterday said: “Preparations are in top gear for the commencement of production in Dangote Refinery, as the petrochemical company has received the fourth crude shipment of one million barrels of bonny light crude supplied by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), and expecting the fifth crude shipment, anytime from now.
“The fresh one million barrels of crude was the fourth consignment to be delivered to the Dangote facility out of the six million barrels of crude being expected by the world’s largest single-train refinery.”
The statement recalled that Dangote Refinery had earlier received three million barrels of crude.
According to the statement, the Managing Director of Dangote Ports Operations, Mr. Akin Omole, had then told reporters at the Dangote Quay, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos that the Refinery would receive about four million crude shipment before the end of last year and the balance by early January 2024.
He said the crude supply would put the refinery in good stead to take off.
The refinery said once the six million barrels were fully delivered, it will facilitate the initial run of the refinery as well as kick-start the production of diesel, aviation fuel, and LPG before subsequently progressing to the production of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
“This latest development will play a pivotal role in alleviating the fuel supply challenges faced by Nigeria as well as the West African countries”, Omole said.
Designed for 100% Nigerian crude with the flexibility to process other crudes, the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery can process most African crude grades as well as Middle Eastern Arab Light and even US Light tight oil as well as crude from other countries.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery can meet 100 per cent of Nigeria’s requirement of all refined products, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation jet, and also has a surplus of each of these products for export.
The refinery was built to take crude through its two SPMs located 25 kilometres from the shore and to discharge petroleum products through three separate SPMs.
In addition, the refinery can load 2,900 trucks a day at its truck-loading gantries.
Dangote Refinery has a self-sufficient marine facility with the ability to handle the largest vessel globally available. In addition, all products from the refinery will do conform to Euro V specifications.
The refinery is designed to comply with US EPA, European Emission Norms, and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) emission/effluent norms as well as African Refiners and Distribution Association (ARDA) standards.
While receiving the first consignment, Dangote said: “We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone. This is an important achievement for our country as it demonstrates our ability to develop and deliver large capital projects. Our focus over the coming months is to ramp up the refinery to its full capacity. I look forward to the next significant milestone when we deliver the first batch of products to the Nigerian market.”
