…Diesel, Jet A1 first products
From Uche Usim, Abuja
The long-awaited Dangote Refinery is set to commence operations in October 2023 at 370,000 barrels per day capacity with the refining of diesel and aviation kerosene (JetA1) as the first products.
The company missed the widely-touted August commencement date.
The Dangote Group Executive Director, Devakumar Edwin, in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights, said the $19.5 billion outfit would gradually scale up production to the original design of 650,000 barrels per day capacity.
He said the company weathered a litany of complications and delays since the project began in 2013.
He said: “Right now, we are ready to receive crude. We are just waiting for the first vessel. And so as soon as it comes in we can start.”
Edwin added that though the refinery was designed to process light Nigerian crude, the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, which is a shareholder in the project, cannot supply the refinery until November.
He said the company is buying oil from trading houses.
“At the last minute, NNPC said they have actually committed their crude on forward basis to someone else. So, immediately they don’t have the crude.
“This is a temporary issue, and the refinery should run on exclusively Nigerian crude by November, he said.
Edwin explained that the scale of the refinery meant being “solely dependent on Nigerian crude would not be advisable”, as the refinery can process most African crudes, apart from heavy Angolan grades as well as Middle Eastern Arab Light and even US light tight oil.
“We can even take some of the Russian grades. If the global system opens up to allow us to receive them,” he stated.
