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Nigeria’s billionaire Aliko Dangote’s refinery has received its first barrels of crude oil for refining, marking an important milestone in a project that has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. The project is aimed to meet the country’s fuel needs, when operational fully and will export to other African countries
Nigeria’s billionaire Aliko Dangote’s refinery has received its first barrels of crude oil for refining, marking an important milestone in a project that has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. The project is aimed to meet the country’s fuel needs, when operational fully, and will export to other African countries.
One million barrels from the Agbami offshore oil field, off the Niger Delta, have reached the refinery located in the Lekki free zone, east of Lagos. Aliko Dangote, who founded Dangote Petroleum Refinery, said that his next big effort will be to get the products to the Nigerian market. Oil refining should enable Nigeria to put an end to frequent fuel shortages, and also increase the quality of fuel in circulation.
Nigeria is one of Africa’s biggest oil producers. Paradoxically, it imports almost all its fuel due to the failure of its state refineries. Fuel shortages plague the daily lives of its inhabitants. Launched in 2013, the US$18.5 billion-plus industrial project (double the initial cost) is the largest single-train refinery in the world. The facility is expected to refine 350,000 barrels per day initially. It will gradually rise to 650,000 when fully operational, and to produce diesel, jet fuel, automotive fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas. A further 5 million barrels are scheduled to come on stream in the coming weeks.
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The industrial site has been built next to the new Lekki deep-water port, to relieve congestion at the Port of Lagos. The mega refinery is expecting to export some refined oil to other African countries. According to Dangote, eventually, at least 40% of the refinery’s capacity will be available for export, which should result in significant foreign exchange earnings for the country.
