Nigeria, on Monday, commissioned the Dangote refinery which is described the refinery as “the world’s largest single train refinery.” This means that the plant has one integrated distillery system which can produce a variety of products and petrochemicals, instead of having different units for each type of product.
The refinery was commissioned by outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari and the event was attended by several dignitaries, including some West African heads of state.
Launched in 2013, the 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery is set up to produce up to 53 million litres of gasoline per day, 4 million litres of diesel and 2 million litres of aviation jet fuel per day.
Built by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, the $19+ billion refinery is expected to meet 100% of the Nigerian requirement of all refined products and also have a surplus of each of these products for export. Nigeria currently consumes around 33 million litres (8.7 million gallons) of petrol daily. In 2022, Nigeria spent $23.3bn on petroleum product imports.
According to Aliko Dangote, Nigeria could save up to $10 billion in foreign exchange and generate another $10 billion in exports with the commencement of operation at the refinery.
Located at Dangote Industries Free Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is covering a land area of approximately 2,635 hectares. It is supplied with crude oil by the largest sub-sea pipeline infrastructure of the world (1,100 km long). When fully operational it will provide 135,000 permanent jobs in the region.
