We’ve enough fuel to meet Nigerians’ need — Dangote refinery

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, has announced that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery currently holds over 500 million litres of petrol in its reservoir. He also highlighted that the refinery now produces enough fuel to meet both local demand and export needs. Dangote made these remarks during a tour of the $20 billion Lekki-based facility on Saturday, accompanied by Zambia’s Minister for Energy, Makozo Chikote.
The Zambian minister visited the refinery in Lekki, Lagos State, to explore potential collaboration with Dangote in addressing his country’s energy security challenges. During the tour, Dangote revealed that the refinery’s tank farm currently holds stocks worth N600 billion. He added that the plant is set to reach its full production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by next month, noting that Nigeria will not be able to consume even 50% of its refined products.
“We can satisfy more than the local needs of Nigeria. As we speak, we have more than half a billion litres (of petrol). We have more than N600bn worth of stocks here today in the refinery. We have more than enough. The refinery is producing enough refined products, like gasoline, diesel, and kerosene, to meet 100 per cent of Nigeria’s requirements,” he stated.
Dangote disclosed that arrangements were being made to get enough crude to aid the refinery’s ramp-up plans.
“Now we are ramping up production. We must be at our full capacity by next month. But we have to do quite a lot of arrangements in terms of crude supply,” he stated.
Speaking about fuel quality, Africa’s richest man disclosed that refineries across the world are shutting down because of the Dangote refinery. He said no refinery in Africa and across Europe can produce the kind of quality fuel his refinery produces.
He said the sulphur content of his fuel could be as low as zero parts per million while the octane number can be 95.
“In terms of quality, there is actually no refinery in Africa, even in Europe that can produce our type of quality. We want to be flexible, you know the laws keep changing.”
Today, they will say 150 parts per million; tomorrow it’s 50 ppm, but we can produce up to zero ppm. This means we can do winter diesel, we can do Euro-5. No refinery around here can do that. When you read the news, you see that a lot of refineries now, especially in Europe, shutting down because of our own refinery. Our refinery is a percentage of the world’s production.
“Obviously, if we pump a lot, some of them will not be able to sell, that’s why in some countries, they will offer them money to just keep dumping. But then, we have to weather that storm up to the time that we will be able to be on our feet,” he added.
Dangote maintained that the local fuel consumption in Nigeria is 40 per cent of the refinery’s total production, stating that the remaining 60 per cent is for export to other countries, especially Africa.
He revealed that arrangements were being made with Afreximbank to resolve the challenges of letters of credit and financing.
“The maximum local consumption is around 40 per cent, but 60 per cent will be exported. We are making a lot of arrangements with some banks to make sure most of the products are sold within Africa; so that it can be a real African refinery, not done just for us to come and process raw materials and ship the products outside Africa. The problem has always been letters of credit; we are working with Afreximbank to resolve that financing issue,“ he said.
When discussing the types of fuel being produced and where the refinery holds a competitive edge, Dangote stated, “We have a competitive advantage in PMS, diesel, aviation fuel, and others. Aviation fuel consumption in Africa is relatively low because we don’t have many aircraft flying. PMS is the most widely used fuel, especially in Nigeria. Right now, most discussions are focused on PMS, especially after deregulation. With the subsidy removed, things are beginning to pick up.”
Davakumar Edwin, Vice President of the Dangote Group, highlighted the refinery’s strategic location near the sea, giving it a significant logistical advantage. He further emphasized that the refinery is well-equipped to meet all local fuel demands. Presenting the refinery’s production capabilities, he noted that the facility can produce 104 million litres of various petroleum products daily.
“57 million litres of petrol every day, 20 million litres of jet fuel, 37 million litres of diesel is our daily production. The local consumption is just 46 million litres. The rest, 58 million litres, will be exported on a daily basis,” Edwin explained.
In the presentation, it was revealed that the refinery supplies 33 million litres of PMS daily for local consumption, 10 million litres of diesel, and 3 million litres of aviation fuel. Data from the tank farm indicates that the refinery has enough storage capacity to hold fuel for several days.
The facility has 12 tanks with a combined capacity of 600 million litres of petrol, enough to serve the country for 18 days. Additionally, it has 17 tanks for storing 408 million litres of aviation fuel, which can last for 136 days, and 14 tanks for 340 million litres of diesel, sufficient for 34 days. There are also 20 tanks that can store 2.4 billion litres of crude oil for 20 days. In total, the refinery operates 177 tanks with a capacity of 4.742 billion litres. According to the control room, the refinery is currently producing 550,000 barrels per day, which is about 85% of its full capacity.
Last week, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority stated that local refineries are unable to meet 50% of Nigeria’s daily PMS consumption, which stands at approximately 50 million litres per day. This shortfall has made it necessary to import additional PMS.
During the visit, Zambia’s Minister for Energy, Makozo Chikote, informed Dangote that the Zambian government is committed to ensuring a steady fuel supply. He emphasized that the country needs energy security and that the Dangote refinery could play a crucial role in achieving that. The minister highlighted that Zambia is looking to Dangote to help provide competitive fuel pricing and ensure a reliable and affordable supply of petroleum products. He also noted that Zambia is creating a conducive environment for private sector participation in the energy sector. Chikote explained that the country currently relies heavily on a facility in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for its fuel needs, and other neighboring countries also depend on the same source.
“The first thing I want to say is that, as the Zambian government, we are mandated to safeguard the supply of our fuels, the security has to be given to the nation. At the same time, due to reforms, the government disengaged itself from participating in the procurement of this product, and we created an environment for private players to participate. Our policy formulation is to make sure that private players can participate in the energy sector. That is our goal.
“Currently, 100 per cent of importation of our petroleum products is being done by the private sector. We are going through some challenges as a country. This is also arising from some of the points that you raised, climate change, and others. Zambia is not a landlocked country. We are land-linked.
“We depend on our good neighbours that surround us. This is why you see us depending on Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Burundi is looking at the same facility. Malawi is looking at the same facility. The Democratic Republic of Congo is also looking towards the same facility. This results in too high congestion, delays, and all those challenges,” Chikote stated.
He pointed out that Zambia was hit by a drought, affecting power generation because the country was 85 per cent dependent on hydropower generation.
“This seriously affected our economic growth. Our economic growth was shaken or is still being shaken, even though we are putting in a lot of mitigation measures to address the challenge. As a country, we are targeting to increase productivity in the minings. We are targeting to increase productivity in agriculture, but through what? It is through having sufficient reliable energy sector to address these challenges. So, now, the reason why we find ourselves here is to start exploring opportunities that will start addressing the difficulties,” he told Dangote and his team.
He stated further, “We are trying to promote competition among our private players. We are looking at Dangote coming on board, which would lead to efficient, reliable, quality, and competitive products, and we want these done like yesterday. Coming to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, we have learned so many advantages of bringing many players for competition, which has improved the lives of the citizens.”
The minister wants African countries to come together to find solutions to their problems.
“From what we have seen, we need to promote trade within Africa to promote each other. We need countries to come together to make Africa efficient, and a reliable trade hub.
“We have seen here that we can learn from what Dangote has done, and this would lead Africa and Africans to stand on their feet and not depend on overseas support in terms of trade. I believe, going forward, that people have learned a few lessons. The one lesson I have learned from this visit is that Dangote looks at the bigger picture for Africa.”
Responding, Dangote stated that the refinery project, like other projects in the past, is not for Nigeria alone.
“This refinery is not only for Nigeria; it is for Africa. We must sustain the African Continental Free Trade Area deal. We are trying to see how we trade with other African countries,” he stated.