The construction work on Dangote Refinery, Africa’s largest refinery, is 100 per cent completed.
The facility is owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote.
According to a report filed by The Will, Friday, the refinery is currently on text run ahead of official commissioning in 2023.
“Production is projected to begin in the first quarter of 2023,” a senior executive at the company said as quoted by THE WILL on Friday, adding that the refinery is being tested run.
The 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery located in Lekki Free Zone is expected to be the world’s biggest single-train facility upon commissioning.
Estimated to cost about $20 billion, the refinery will produce Euro-V quality gasoline and diesel, as well as jet fuel and polypropylene and will likely generate 4,000 direct and 145,000 indirect jobs.
The refinery is expected to save Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, about $10 billion in foreign exchange.
During a visit to the refinery recently, Minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said the huge investment by Dangote Group would enable Nigeria to stop the importation of fuel.
“This is a very important project one of the largest refineries in the world today. Mr President is very proud of this project and we speak about it everywhere we go in terms of the number of jobs which it is creating and the good that it will be bringing to our economy.
“And for us in government, that is a saving of at least $10bn that will be sitting in our reserves instead of flying out to pay for petroleum products.
“In the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, we have had the opportunity to interface with your company (Dangote Group) at different times to provide you with some clearance you required as you bring in equipment and as you move from one step to another, and I used to be alarmed at some of the size of the requests. But now, I do understand that this is very big and it is very important for this country.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
