By Udeme Akpan, Energy Editor

THE $20 billion Dangote Refinery has started production of diesel and aviation fuel, thus promising to meet the domestic demand in Nigeria.

This follows the successful delivery of about six million barrels of crude oil to the 650,000 barrels per day plant in the past few weeks.

Meanwhile, the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, elatedly thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support, encouragement, and thoughtful advice towards the actualisation of this project.

In a statement obtained by Vanguard, Dangote also thanked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Limited), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and Nigerians for their support and belief in the historic project.

He said: “We thank President Bola Tinubu for his support and for making our dream come true. This production, as witnessed today, would not have been possible without his visionary leadership and prompt attention to detail. His intervention at various stages cleared all impediments thereby accelerating the actualisation of the project.

“We also thank the NNPC, NUPRC, and NMDPRA for their support. These organisations have been our dependable partners in this historic journey. We also thank Nigerians for their belief and support in this project. We have started the production of diesel and aviation fuel, and the products will be in the market within this month once we receive regulatory approvals.

“This is a big day for Nigeria. 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. This is a game changer for our country, and I am very fulfilled with the actualisation of this project.”

He said: “I must extend our sincere appreciation to our Bankers and financiers, both local and offshore, who demonstrated a great deal of patience, in seeing us through many difficult times. In the same vein, we thank the Government of Lagos State, under the leadership of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who has been incredibly proactive in ensuring that the many challenges we encountered in the course of executing this project were quickly resolved. I thank him immensely.

“I also sincerely thank our host communities and their Traditional leaders for their sustained patience, forbearance, and admirable willingness to work with us to find amicable and win-win resolutions to the many issues we have had to deal with as the construction of this huge facility progressed. Our staff have also contributed so immensely to the success of this project. I thank them profusely.”

The first crude delivery was done on December 12, 2023, and the 6th cargo was delivered on January 8, 2024.

Designed for 100% Nigerian crude with the flexibility to process other crudes, the 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 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 has the capacity to 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.