The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals’ first product, according to Aliko Dangote, “will be in the market before the end of July, beginning of August this year.”
This was said by the president of Dangote Industries Limited during the opening remarks at the Monday ceremony for the 650,000 bpd refinery in Lagos State.
“Beyond today’s ceremony, our first goal is to ramp up production of the various products to ensure that within this year, we’re able to fully satisfy our nation’s demand for higher quality products,” he said.
According to him, the accomplishment is to enable Nigeria to eliminate what he described as the tragedy of import dependency and stop — “once and for all” — toxic, substandard petroleum products from being dumped in Nigeria’s market.
“Beyond this, we intend to ensure that our plants are run at the highest capacity of utilisation and the highest efficiency to enable us to export competitively to other markets, especially in the ECOWAS and wider regions in which 53 countries out of 55 are dependent on imports to meet their petroleum products demand,” he added.
Invoking the African Union’s commitment to the construction of an African single market through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the multibillionaire businessman claimed that the initiative represented the realization of a “clear opportunity” for Nigeria.
Among other refined products, the facility is anticipated to manufacture Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), diesel (Automotive Gas Oil), aviation jet fuel, and Dual-Purpose Kerosene (DPK).
