President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has expressed appreciation to President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his vision and support, which encouraged him to embark on the refinery projects years ago.
This follows the successful commencement of production of refined petroleum products by his multi – billion dollars Petroleum Refinery.
Speaking with stakeholders in the oil and gas industry on the historic start of domestic refining of petroleum products that will eliminate dependence of importation of refined products in Nigeria, Dangote thanked President Tinubu, the federal government, US agencies and all Nigerians for believing in him and supporting the mega project despite all odds.
The renowned entrepreneur recalled the support, encouragement, and thoughtful advice he got from President Tinubu towards the actualisation of the refinery project.
President Tinubu, while addressing Nigerian on New – Year Day had alluded to the fact that the federal government and indeed Nigerians were eagerly awaiting the the start of production at the Dangote and Port – Harcourt refineries to ease attendant hardship on the citizens after the fuel subsidy removal.
Specifically Dangote also thanked the National Petroleum Corporation Limited( NNPCL), the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Authority (NMDPRA) for their support and belief in the historic project.
According to Dangote”I want to thank President Bola Tinubu for his support and for making our dream come true. This production as witnessed today, would not have been possible without his Visionary and Leadership and Prompt attention to details. His Intervention at various stages cleared all impediments, thereby accelerating the actualisation of the project.
“I also to express my appreciation to NNPCL, NUPRC, NMDPRA for their support. These Organisations have been our dependable partners in this historic journey. We also thanked Nigerians for their support to the project. We have started the production of diesel and aviation fuel, and the products will be in the market within this month once we receive regulatory approvals..
This is a big day for Nigeria. We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone. This is an important achievement for our ability to develop and deliver large capital projects. This is a game changer for our country and I am very fulfilled with the actualisation of the project he added.
The refinery has so far received six million barrels of crude oil at its two SPMs located 25 Kilometres from the shore. The first crude delivery was done on December 12, 2023 and the Sixth Cargo was delivered on January 8th, 2024.
The Refinery can load 2,900 trucks a day at its truck loading gantries. The products from the Refinery will conform to EURO V Specifications. The refinery design complied with the World Bank, US EPA, EUROPEAN emission norms, and Department of Petroleum Resources( DPR) emission/effluents norms. Employing state – of -the art technology.
“I must extend our sincere appreciation to our Bankers and financiers, both local and offshore, who demonstrated a great deal of patience in seeing us through many difficult times. In the same vein, we thank the Government of Lagos State under the leadership of Babajide Sanwo – Olu, who has been incredibly proactive in ensuring that the many challenges we encountered in the course of executing this project were quickly resolved. “I thank him immensely” Dangote stated.
“I also sincerely thank our host Communities and Traditional leaders for their sustained patience, forberance, and admirable willingness to work with us to find amicable and win – win resolutions to many issues we have had to deal with the huge facility progressed. Our Staff have also contributed so immensely to the success of this project. I thank them profusely” he added.
