——- As Dangote reassures on the commencement of petrol production this July
International financial analytics Corporation, S &P Global has described the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) Dangote Oil Refinery and Petrochemicals Company as capable of solving Nigeria’s foreign exchange (forex) issue and its huge pressure on the local Naira currency, while also Catalysing the country’s economic development.
S&P Global headquartered in Manhattan, New York, disclosed this during an on site visit to the Dangote Refinery at Ibeju – Lekki, Lagos as part of its Sovereign Credit ratings assessment of Nigeria. The team from the international rating agency were accompanied by officials from Federal Ministry of Finance.
S&P noted that the Largest single – train refinery in the world would bolster Nigeria’s oil sector and, more importantly, also have a positive impact on its growing economy.
Director and Lead Analyst, Sovereign and International Public Finance Ratings, Ravi Bhatia, who led the delegation to Lagos, said Dangote refinery would transform Nigeria into a net exporter of petroleum products. He added that this transformation is expected to boost revenue generation and alleviate current pressure on the Country’s foreign exchange reserves.
“It is a very impressive facility, able to process 650,000 barrels a day, when in full capacity. It is the largest single – train refinery complex in the world. It came out quite quickly. Nigeria is a big exporter of crude but has issues with importing refined fuels. So, there is a gap in the market where crude can be refined in Nigeria, save money that way, and potentially save some foreign exchange.
“This will be positive for the economy in the medium term. It looks positive from our own assessment,” Bhatia said after over four – hour – tour of the facility.
Also in a chat with the with the media, Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, who led the team during the tour of the facility reiterated that by harnessing Africa’s abundant crude oil resources to produced refined products locally, the Company aims to catalyse a virtuous circle of industrial development, job creation, and economic prosperity.
He also revealed that as earlier promised, the Company will start the production of Premium Motor Spirit ( PMS) this month ( JULY) .
Noting that production from the 20 billion dollars facility are of high quality and meet International Standards, Edwin said it meet 100 per cent of Nigeria’s demand for petrol, diesel, kerosene and aviation jet A1 with surplus available for export.
The S&P team commended the President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, for integrating advanced technologies and quality control measures, including a state – of- the art Central Control Unit ensuring smooth automation of operations.
Other members of the team of the International rating agency include the Associate Director, Sovereign Ratings, Maxmillian McGraw; Director Corporate Ratings, Senior Analyst, Bank Ratings, and Director of Financial Services, Samira Mensah .
Currently operating at 350,000 barrels per day capacity, Edwin said the refinery is slated to scale up to at least 500,000 barrels per day by July/ August, Commencing the refining of petrol and ultra – low sulphur diesel.
He noted that the refinery designed to process wide range of Crude including various African and Middle Eastern crudes, as well as US Light Oil, conforms to Euro V Specifications in addition, its designs comply with US EPA, European Union ( EU) emission norms, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) emission/ effluent norms, and the African Refiners and Distribution Association Standards.
While noting that most of the refineries Were built by foreign companies, he said it is thing of pride that Nigerian Company designed and built the world’s largest single – train refinery complex while acting directly as its own Engineering Procurement and Construction Contractors. The refinery also Incorporates self – sufficient marine facility capable of handling the world’s largest vessels .
“The refinery can produce the best quality products in the world, Euro V grade. It is one of the energy efficient refineries and it is highly environmental friendly. It is sophisticated with high level of automation.
The largest single train refinery in the world is 100 per cent designed, engineered and constructed by Nigerian Company as EPC contractor”, he said.
Nigeria, one of the world’s leading oil producing countries, exports all its crude oil for refining and subsequently imports refined products due to lack of operational refineries. It is estimated that Nigeria imports at least 50 million litres of petrol per day to meet domestic demand.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) In its Foreign Trade Statistics for the fourth quartered 2023, Nigeria spent approximately #12 trillion on importation of petroleum products in 2023, including premium motor spirit (pms), commonly known as petrol. This figure marks an 18.68 per cent increase compared to the 10 trillion naira spent on fuel imports in 2022.
