Africa’s wealthiest individual, Aliko Dangote, announced that his refinery has obtained a license to process over 300,000 barrels of Nigerian crude per day, prioritizing gasoline production.
“We don’t want to start our refinery with foreign goods, we want to start with the Nigerian crude,” Dangote said in an interview in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Saudi-Nigeria business roundtable, according to Bloomberg.
“We’re more than ready and you will see our gasoline products soon,” he added.
Despite missing its initial production target in August and facing delays over the years, Aliko Dangote remains confident that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery will commence production “very very soon.”
The refinery’s primary focus is to supply gasoline to Nigeria before extending exports to other regions, including West Africa.
Previously importing crude oil, the refinery is now poised to process Nigerian crude, with the expectation of receiving its first cargo in approximately two weeks, according to Devakumar Edwin, the Executive Director of the Dangote Group.
Although the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) typically handles crude oil trading on behalf of Nigeria, Devakumar Edwin, the Executive Director of the Dangote Group, revealed in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights that the NNPCL had committed its crude to other entities.
A $3 billion crude oil-for-loan deal with the African Export-Import Bank was disclosed by the NNPCL in August, but the specific recipients of the oil company’s crude were not disclosed by Aliko Dangote, the head of the Dangote refinery.
The 650,000 barrel-a-day facility, anticipated to produce significant quantities of diesel, kerosene, and jet fuel, is set to receive crude from various producers in Nigeria, including the state oil company. Aliko Dangote’s fortune is estimated at $16.2 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Nigeria increased its oil output by 60,000 barrels per day last month, reaching 1.49 million barrels per day — the highest in almost two years.
The West African nation has launched a new grade of crude called Nembe through a joint venture, as the nation ramps up its oil output.
The Nembe crude stream is expected to be managed and marketed by a joint venture between state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and oil firm Aiteo Eastern E&P Co. Ltd.
Crude theft and attacks on pipelines in the Niger Delta have crippled the OPEC member’s ability to meet its quota, meaning that the Nigerian government has been struggling to meet its revenue targets.
