TheCable

The Dangote Oil Refining Company says its plant has received its maiden one million barrels of Agbami crude grade, from the Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (STASCO).

In a statement on Friday, the company said the STASCO vessel sailed to the refinery’s single point mooring (SPM), where it was discharged into the refinery’s crude oil tanks.

The development followed news that the crude feedstock was on its way to the refinery on Thursday.

Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Group, had said the plant would start production with 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude.

In the statement, the firm said the inaugural one million barrels, representing the first phase of the six million barrels to be supplied to the refinery by a range of suppliers, should sustain the initial 350,000 bpd to be processed by the facility.

The refinery said it will receive the next four cargoes — to be supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited — in two or three weeks.

“The next four cargoes will be supplied by the NNPC in two to three weeks and the final of the six cargoes will be supplied by ExxonMobil,” the statement reads.

“This supply will facilitate the initial run of the refinery as well as kick-start the production of diesel, aviation fuel, and LPG before subsequently progressing to the production of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

“This latest development will play a pivotal role in alleviating the fuel supply challenges faced by Nigeria as well as the West African countries.”

‘DANGOTE REFINERY DESIGNED FOR 100% NIGERIAN CRUDE’

According to the refining company, the 650,000 bpd refinery is designed for 100 percent Nigerian crude, with the versatility to process other crudes. 

The refinery can process most African crude grades, the company said, as well as the Middle Eastern Arab Light, US Light tight oil, and crude from other countries.

“Dangote Petroleum Refinery can meet 100% of the Nigeria’s requirement of all refined products, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation jet, and also have surplus of each of these products for export,” the statement reads.

“The refinery was built to take crude through its two SPMs located 25 kilometres from the shore and to discharge petroleum products through three separate SPMs. In addition, the refinery has the capacity to load 2,900 trucks a day at its truck loading gantries.

“Dangote Refinery has a self-sufficient marine facility with the ability to handle the largest vessel globally available. In addition, all products from the refinery will conform to Euro V specifications.

“The refinery is designed to comply with US EPA, European emission norms, and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) emission/effluent norms as well as African Refiners and Distribution Association (ARDA) standards.”

For the company, the focus over the coming months is to ramp up the refinery to its full capacity, Dangote said, speaking on the new milestone.

“I look forward to the next significant milestone when we deliver the first batch of products to the Nigerian market,” he added.

On his part, Osagie Okunbor, country chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria, said his firm is “happy to be enabling” the operationalisation of the refinery.