TheCable

Petrolex Oil & Gas says it plans to build a 250,000 barrel-a-day capacity refinery in Ogun state.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Segun Adebutu, chief executive officer of the company, said the refinery will be completed in 2021.

The company, which plans to spend $3.6 billion on the construction, is already working on the front-end engineering design.

Adebutu said the company plans to inaugurate a storage-tank farm, other mid-stream infrastructure and the start refinery construction in December.

According to the CEO, the tanks are connected to a pipeline in Mosimi which will distribute products across the country.

The refinery project will be funded with loans from banks, international lenders and revenue from Petrolex.

Adebutu said the company is also planning a fertilizer plant, lubricants facility and a liquefied petroleum gas plant.

The company is also planning to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the next 10 years to ensure that the business outlives its owners and give room for expansion.

“By the next five years we would have achieved a significant amount of our ambition, then begin strategy talks with the stock exchange,” Adebutu said.

Adebutu said the company hopes to employ 10,000 people directly by 2021 when the projects will be up and running.

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, is currently constructing a 650,000-barrel-a-day refinery, which is expected to be completed in 2019.