President of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote has revealed that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery – has enough Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol in storage to sufficiently meet the local needs of Nigeria.
This is just as he revealed that the refinery presently produces 57 million litres of PMS, 20 million litres of jet fuel; and 27 million litres of diesel daily.
He spoke at the weekend while conducting a Zambian delegation led by the country’s Energy Minister, Makozo Chikote, on tour of his 650,000 barrels per day refinery located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.
Chikote, alongside other energy experts in his delegation to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, were on a first hand findings with the aim of Zambia partnering with the refinery on energy solutions in his country. He expressed satisfaction and readiness to work with the African manufacturing giant.
Dangote disclosed that the oil refinery has “more than half a billion litres of petroleum and over N600 billion worth of products in its tanks.
“As we speak now, we have more than half a billion litres. The refinery is producing enough refined products, like gasoline, diesel, and kerosene, to meet 100 per cent of Nigeria’s requirements,” Dangote revealed.
He, however, noted that the refinery project, like other projects in his conglomerate, is not for Nigeria alone.
“This refinery is not only for Nigeria; it is for Africa. We must sustain the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) deal. We are trying to see how we trade with other African countries,” he said.
Chikote , in response, said his takeaway from the Dangote Refinery working visit was that the DIL President, Aliko Dangote, is truly focused on the bigger picture for Africa.
The Zambian energy minister added: “In Zambia, we created an environment for the private sector to participate in the growth and development of our country. Currently, 100 per cent of our petroleum is done by the private sector.
“We are targeting increased productivity in mining, agriculture, and other sectors. Your presentation is an immediate solution to our energy needs. We are trying to promote competition among our private players.
“We are looking at Dangote coming on board, which would lead to efficient, reliable, quality, and competitive products, and we want these done like yesterday.”
“Coming to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, we have learned so many advantages of bringing many players for competition, which has improved the lives of the citizens.”
Chikote further said that: “From what we have seen, we need to promote trade within Africa to promote each other. We need these countries together to make Africa efficient, and a reliable trade hub.
“We have seen here that we can learn from what Dangote has done, and this would lead Africa and Africans to stand on their feet and not depend on overseas support in terms of trade.”
I believe going forward that people have learned a few lessons. The one lesson I have learned from this visit is that Dangote looks at the bigger picture for Africa.”
The Vice President of Budget, Performance Review, and Strategic Planning at the World Bank Group, Samuel Maimbo, who was a part of the visiting delegation, noted that there is also not enough development aid to develop Africa. There is also not enough government funding to develop Africa.
“The only way we can finance Africa’s growth at a pace and scale that solves our problem is by working through the private sector, which is why we are here today, to learn and to see what an ambitious programme looks like,” he stated.
Maimbo, who is presently campaigning for the presidency of the African Development Bank (AfDB), explained that there is not enough development aid to develop Africa. He added that it is only the private sector that can help develop the continent of Africa.
Lending his voice, the Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, Edwin Devakumar, stated that the Refinery produces the best quality products as its core business strategy.
“The project concept was to process the crude from Nigeria and add value. But we also wanted to provide some flexibility to process most of the African crudes and some of the Middle Eastern crudes,” Devakumar said.
He explained that what the firm did with the refinery is known as “maximum value extraction, that is, a process where every barrel of crude which goes in, the value addition should be the best.”
According to him, “the Refinery can meet all our requirements. For instance, 44 per cent of our production can meet the entire requirements of Nigeria, and 56 per cent of the production would be exported. Every day, we produce lighter products of 104 million litres; 57 million litres of petrol every day; 20 million litres of jet fuel; and 27 million litres of diesel production.
“The local consumption is just around 46 million litres, and the remaining 58 million litres will be exported daily,” he added.
After a tour of the Dangote complex at the Free Trade Zone, Ibeju Lekki, starting from the Single Point Mooring to the Dangote Jetty, the biggest fertiliser plant in Africa and the 650,000bpd largest single-train refinery in the world, the Minister enthused that the presentation by Devakumar, made their hearts “jump”. He stated that the presentation speaks to the challenges of his country, Zambia.
