Plans are in top gear to start oil refining operations at the 650,000 barrels per day Lagos-based Dangote Petroleum Refinery as the company on Thursday, received the fifth crude oil shipment of one million barrels of Bonny Light grade supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Dangote Group announced the fifth crude shipment to the refinery in a statement issued yesterday, as the upcoming oil refiner was already preparing to welcome the sixth one million crude oil cargo to the facility tomorrow or Monday next week, barring any unforeseen delay.
The latest development was a significant step for the refinery as it hopes to begin operations and ultimately help Nigeria to achieve self-sufficiency in petroleum products and save foreign exchange expended on importation of finished products from abroad.
According to the statement, the latest fifth consignment to be delivered to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery facility out of the six million barrels of crude being expected, arrived at the Single Point Mooring (SPM)-C2 Dangote Offshore Oil Terminal on Thursday, and had already been discharged to the refinery's crude oil tanks.
The Lagos Free Trade Zone-housed Dangote Refinery had earlier received four million barrels of crude.
Managing Director of Dangote Ports Operations, Mr. Akin Omole, had told journalists then at the Dangote Quay, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos that the Refinery would receive about four million crude oil shipments before the end of 2023 and the remaining two by the early of January 2024.
He added that the crude supply would put the refinery in good stead to commence operation.
Once the six million barrels are fully delivered, it will facilitate the initial run of the refinery as well as kick-start the production of diesel, aviation fuel, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG( before subsequently progressing to the production of petrol.
The company noted that this latest development would play a pivotal role in alleviating the fuel supply challenges faced by Nigeria as well as the West African countries.
Designed for 100 per cent 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.
The promoters said the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has the capacity to 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.
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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 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, President of Dangote Group, Mr. Aliko Dangote, had stated: "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."
