The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited shipped one million barrels of bright light crude oil to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery on Monday, marking the refinery’s fourth delivery of the cargo.
The $20 billion company said in a statement that it was anticipating the sixth shipment of crude oil shortly.
The refinery had previously received three shipments of crude oil. However, company representatives informed our correspondent that this month the refinery will begin producing refined aviation fuel, or JetA1, and automotive gas oil, or diesel.
In the statement issued on Monday, the company said, “The fresh one million barrels of crude was the fourth consignment to be delivered to the Dangote facility out of the six million barrels of crude being expected by the world’s largest single-train refinery.”
Akin Omole, the managing director of Dangote Ports Operations, had previously informed reporters at Dangote Quay in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, that the refinery will receive almost four million shipments of crude oil by the end of 2023.
He stated that the refinery would get the final two by early January 2024, putting it in a position to start operations.
He clarified that after the six million barrels were supplied in full, the refinery would be able to work more smoothly and produce diesel, aviation fuel, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas before moving on to produce Premium Motor Spirit, or gasoline.
The 650,000 barrels per day Dangote refinery can supply all of Nigeria’s needs for refined petroleum products, such as jet fuel, diesel, kerosene, and gasoline, and it also has extra of each of these goods available for export.
The Dangote Refinery has been receiving supplies of crude oil from a self-sufficient maritime infrastructure that can handle the largest vessel available internationally.
After receiving the first consignment of crude, the President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, had said, “We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone. This is an important achievement for our country as it demonstrates our ability to develop and deliver large capital projects.
“Our focus over the coming months is to ramp up the refinery to its full capacity. I look forward to the next significant milestone when we deliver the first batch of products to the Nigerian market.”
