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Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery Starts Diesel, Aviation Fuel Production


FILE — Oil installations at the Dangote refinery during the opening ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria, May 22, 2023.
FILE — Oil installations at the Dangote refinery during the opening ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria, May 22, 2023.

ABUJA — Nigeria's Dangote oil refinery has begun producing diesel and aviation fuel, the company said on Saturday, after years of construction delays at the 650,000 barrel per day plant.

The refinery, Africa's largest, was built on a peninsula on the outskirts of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, at a cost of $20 billion by African billionaire Aliko Dangote.

Although Nigeria is Africa's top energy producer, the West African nation has relied on imports for most of its fuel consumption.

The Dangote refinery is expected to not only make Nigeria self-sufficient but also allow the West African nation to export fuel to its neighbors, potentially transforming oil trading in the Atlantic Basin.

Company officials say test runs could begin this week after the refinery received a sixth crude oil cargo on January 8.

"This is a big day for Nigeria. We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone," the company said in a statement posted on social media platform X.

The plant received 1 million barrels of Nigeria's Agbami crude on Monday, taking the total volume received since December to 6 million barrels.

Nigeria's state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is expected to supply four crude cargoes to the refinery from its February program.

It could take months after the startup of the refinery's crude distillation unit to move from test runs to the production of high-quality fuels at full capacity, according to experts.

The refinery has said it will start by refining 350,000 barrels per day, with hopes of ramping up to full production later this year.

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