The 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery is expected to commence operations with up to six cargoes of crude oil to be supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) next month.

The supply will facilitate the refinery's test runs, three industry sources with knowledge of the matter told LEADERSHIP.

The refinery, funded by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, will transform oil trading in the Atlantic Basin and remove a lucrative outlet for fuels produced in Europe and the United States that have for years powered the cars, trucks and generators on the continent.

The refinery is located in the Lekki Free Trade zone in Lagos State. Once it is fully up and running, it will turn oil powerhouse Nigeria into a net exporter of fuels, a long-sought goal for the country that is currently almost totally reliant on imports.

One of the sources, an NNPCL official, who declined to be named, specified that six cargoes or 200,000 barrels of oil a day, would be supplied in December as part of a one-year deal, adding that volumes in future months would be supplied "based on mutual agreement and availability".

The other sources said about four to five cargoes or at least 130,000 bpd, were planned.

A Dangote Group official, who did not wish to be named, said: "Some of the agreements have confidentiality clauses" without elaborating, when asked about the NNPC supply deal.

LEADERSHIP reports that NNPCL has a 20 per cent stakes in the refinery.

The refinery began the commissioning process in May this year after running years behind schedule at a cost of $19billion, above initial estimates of $12-14billion.

Commissioning includes testing the different units that make products from gasoline to diesel and making sure they respond to the control panels.

The facility was commissioned by former President Muhammadu Buhari a few months ago at the twilight of his administration.