The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Plant has begun the processing of one million barrels of Agbami crude grade.

The crude oil from Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (STASCO) was sailed from Agbami in the company’s cargo to Dangote Refinery’s Single Point Mooring (SPM) yesterday, where it was discharged into the refinery’s crude oil tanks.

The maiden one million barrels, which represent the first phase of the six million barrels of crude oil to be supplied to Dangote Petroleum Refinery by a range of suppliers, should sustain the initial 350,000 barrels per day to be processed by the facility.

The president of Dangote Group, Mr Aliko Dangote stated, “We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone. This is an important achievement for our country as it demonstrates our ability to develop and deliver large capital projects. Our focus over the coming months is to ramp up the refinery to its full capacity. I look forward to the next significant milestone when we deliver the first batch of products to the Nigerian market.”

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The country chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr Osagie Okunbor stated, “We welcome the startup of a refinery that is designed to produce gasoline, diesel and low-sulphur fuels for Nigeria and across West Africa, and are happy to be enabling it.”

Dangote Refinery is expected to boost Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity and ensure her self-sufficiency in refined products.

According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, Nigeria spent $11.3 billion importing refined products in 2021. It is believed that at least $23.3bn was spent for the same purpose in 2022

Daily Trust Saturday learnt that the next four cargoes would be supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited in two to three weeks and the final of the six cargoes would be supplied by ExxonMobil.

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 would play a pivotal role in alleviating the fuel supply challenges faced by Nigeria, as well as West African countries.