Efforts by the Nigerian government to make the country self-sufficient in local refining of crude oil have received a major boost as the Dangote Refinery, the world’s largest single-train refinery, is set for inauguration on May 22. The refinery, which is located in the Lekki Free Zone area of Lagos, covers a land area of approximately 2,635 hectares and has a capacity of refining 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
According to a source at the refinery, the plant has been completed with pre-inauguration tests currently ongoing. The inauguration is set to be carried out by President Muhammadu Buhari, and the event is expected to be an epic one. The refinery’s pipeline infrastructure is also said to be the largest in the world, with 1,100 kilometers to handle three billion Standard Cubic Feet per day of gas.
The Dangote Refinery complex, a multi-billion dollar project, will create a market for $21 billion per annum of Nigerian crude oil. The refinery is designed to process Nigerian crude and can also process other crudes. It has a 435MW-capacity power plant that is able to meet the total power requirement of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company.
Upon completion, the 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. The refinery is among the projects scheduled for inauguration before the end of President Buhari’s tenure on May 29, 2023.
In a statement, the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Anthony Chiejina, debunked reports that the refinery was among the projects scheduled for inauguration by Buhari during his visit to Lagos in January. He said the refinery will be commissioned before President Muhammadu Buhari formally leaves office in May 2023, and the public will be duly informed and invited to the event.
