The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is set to start producing Automotive Gas Oil, also known as diesel, and JetA1 or aviation fuel next month, January 2024, while the production of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, is being delayed by the supply of crude oil in installments.
It was gathered on Sunday that the facility would require a minimum of six million barrels of crude oil to kick-start the full production of refined petroleum products including AGO, PMS, Jet A1 and Dual Purpose Kerosene, otherwise called kerosene.
But what the refinery got last week was one million barrels of crude, while the remaining five million barrels would arrive at the $20bn facility in another five installments.
Reacting to the development, billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, said Dangote Refinery would champion energy security in Nigeria.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Project, a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited, is a 650,000 barrels per day crude oil refinery, located in Dangote Industries Free Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery with the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day covers an area of approximately 2,635 hectares and is located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.
On November 2, 2023, The PUNCH reported that the failure to supply crude oil to domestic refineries, including the multi-billion dollar Dangote refinery, stalled the production of refined petroleum products at the facilities.
The report also stated that the lack of crude oil supply came as the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery in Lagos missed the October production projection it had earlier set.
Otedola said this on Sunday on his X (formerly Twitter ) handle, where he congratulated Africa’s richest man and his “bestie,” Aliko Dangote, on the commencement of production of the refinery, which was commissioned in May, before the expiration of the tenure of the former president, Muhammadu Buhari.
He said, “By meeting our requirements for all refined petroleum products, it will champion energy security and independence for our nation and act as a catalyst for a new era of prosperity for the subcontinent. It promises economic transformation for Nigerians today and for generations to come.”
Otedola started off his piece on the social media platform by congratulating Dangote.