Wetin Dangote refinery start of operation mean for Nigerians?

Dangote refinery don receive dia first one million barrels of Agbami crude grade from Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (STASCO)

Dis development na ogbonge start of fuel production for di $19bn facility afta long years wey pipo don wait.

Di cargo bin sail to di facility Single-Point Mooring (SPM) wia e bin discharge into di refinery crude oil tanks, Dangote refinery tok for statement.

“Di STASCO cargo contain one million barrels from Agbami and bin sail to Dangote Refinery Single Point Mooring (SPM) wia e discharge into di refinery crude oil tanks”.

Dis first one million barrels of crude supply, from di first phase of di six million barrels wey go dey supplied to di refinery by some suppliers, suppose dey enough for di first 350,000 barrels per day wey dey needed for di start of crude production for di facility, dem explain.

Dem further tok say na Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) go supply di next four cargoes around two to three weeks and ExxonMobil go supply di final six cargoes.

“Dis supply go make easy di first run of di refinery as well as kick-start production of diesel, aviation fuel, and LPG bifo dem later progress to di production of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)," dem add.

Di refinery bin officially complete for May wen former president Muhammadu Buhari bin commission am but no make any oil products sake of lack of domestic crude feedstock.

Despite di delay for start of production, dem still see Dangote refinery as di game-changer for Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.

Na Chevron dey operate Agbami wey be one of Nigeria largest deepwater developments wit pumping of about 100,000 barrel per day for di central Niger Delta.

Agbami dey produce light sweet crude wit gravity of 47.9 API and one sulfur content of 0.04%, according to Platts' Periodic Table of Oil. Di crude wey popular for market dey give one large quantity of naphtha and kerosene.

Aliko Dangote, Africa richest man and di president of di Dangote group, say e mark one ogbonge waka.

“We dey happy to don reach dis ogbonge milestone. Dis na important achievement for our kontri as e show our ability to develop and deliver large capital projects.

"Our focus ova di coming months na to ramp up di refinery to im full capacity. I look forward to di next ogbonge milestone wen we deliver di first batch of products to di Nigerian market,” Dangote tok.

For November, Dangote bin tok say e get mind to publicly list im Dangote Petroleum Refinery for di Nigerian Exchange Limited.

Dangote bin tok am for interview wit tori pipo Financial Times. E say wit di resolution of challenges wit crude oil supply to di refinery, “We now dey ready to move forward wit our plans to list di refinery on di Nigerian Exchange Limited.”

NNPCL wey own 20% stake for di refinery bin confam say dem go provide six million barrels of crude oil to di Dangote Refinery.

Tok-tok pesin of NNPCL Garba Deen bin also tok say di national oil company go cut down running once di Dangote refinery begin operate.

Some sabi pipo about oil mata believe say Dangote Refinery go take care of at least 12% of Africa petroleum product demand, and fit reduce di continent fuel imports by 36%.

'Private refinery no be di solution to Nigeria oil problem'

One ogbonge analyst, Bayo Ajayi, tell BBC News Pidgin say Dangote refinery go begin process crude oil no mean say price of oil go cheap.

“Dangote refinery na private investment and di aim na to make profit, no be to do social service,” Ajayi tok.

Di analyst tok say if Nigeria fit get four refineries and goment no fit make am work, e mean say private refinery no go fit solve di issue of oil price gebge and inflation wey di kontri dey face.

E explain say dis kind tin only show di kind problem wey di kontri dey face for di oil sector.

E add say 100 of private refinery no be di solution.

Subsidy of fuel remain di ogbonge solution if goment wan really help citizens, Bayo Ajayi further tok.

“Di role of goment na to make sure say dem manage wella national investment and economy. Goment no suppose remove fuel subsidy sake of say some bad element dey chop di moni wey suppose be for subsidy," e tok.

E add say if private investor like Dangote fit produce refinery wey dey work, e show say somtin dey really wrong.

Ontop mata say NNPC get 20% of di Dangote refinery, Ajayi tok say: "Di problem be say e get pipo wey dey close to goment and goment go fit do anytin for dem at di expense of di masses."

E say wetin suppose happun be say make goment fight corruption for any national establishment wella so Nigerian no go need depend on private refinery for reduced oil price.

Ajayi bin repeat say Dangote refinery no be di solution to Nigeria oil problem as no be evri citizen go still fit afford am if price no reduce.

'Game changer for Nigeria economy'

Former president Muhammadu Buhari wen im bin inaugurate di Dangote Petroleum Refinery for Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, say dis go be ogbonge milestone for Nigeria economy and go be game changer for di downstream petroleum products market for di entire African region.

''Dis mega industry we dey commissioned today na clear example of wetin we fit achieve if we encourage and support entrepreneurs and create enabling environment for investments and for businesses to thrive," Buhari tok for May.

Di Heads of State from Ghana, Togo, Niger, Senegal and one representative of di President of Chad bin attend di inauguration wia Oga Buhari also say African kontris gatz come togeda, integrate dia economies and eliminate trade barriers.

For di launch, Oga Dangote bin also outline im hopes for di refinery say: "Our first goal na to ramp up production of di various products to make sure say within dis year, we go fit fully satisfy di kontris demand for quality products."

Meanwhile, e neva dey clear wetin go be di impact of di plant on di price of fuel for di kontri.

Now goment don remove fuel subsidies - wey for 2022 bin take up nearly one third of di national budget.

Some facts about di Dangote refinery

Di refinery dey for Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos and e cover a land area of approximately 2,635 hectares.

According to di Dangote Group, di facility go be di world largest Single-Train 650,000 barrels per day Petroleum Refinery with 900 KTPA Polypropylene plant.

At full capacity, e dey expected to meet 100% of Nigeria requirement of all refined products and e go get surplus for export

E dey designed to process large variety of crudes including many of African Crudes, some of di Middle Eastern Crudes and di US Light Tight Oil.

E get 177 tanks of 4.742 billion litres capacity.

According to statement from Dangote, dem use di world largest dredgers to dredge 65 million cubic meters of sand and e cost approximately €300 million.

"Everything in this plant by way of size is the first. It is the largest single-train refinery in the world. There is no single column which can process 650,000 barrels per day anywhere else" - Sanjay Gupta, CEO #DangotePetroleumRefinery#EnergyForAll #AfricaEmpowered pic.twitter.com/LqS7XX81So

— Dangote Group (@DangoteGroup) May 21, 2023