Dangote Refinery construction update

The Dangote Refinery is a new oil refinery currently under construction in Lekki, owned by the Dangote Group. According to speculations, the oil refinery will have the capacity to process about 650,000 barrels per day. The refinery will process varieties of light and medium crudes to produce quality and clean Euro-V fuels including gasoline and diesel, jet fuel, and polypropylene.

In September 2013, Nigerian businessman, billionaire, and founder of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote unveiled the plans of constructing an oil refinery. He also announced that he had secured $3.3 billion in financing to kick off the project of which was estimated to cost about $9 billion. In the plan, the Dangote Group would invest $3.3 billion of the total money while the remainder would come from commercial loans and other private investors.

It wasn’t until 2016 that production began with infrastructure preparation and excavation. By July 2017, major work began, particularly, structural construction. The Dangote Group estimated that the refinery will be completed in 2019, and commissioned by 2020. There has been a turn of events over the last couple of months which has caused a shift in the expected timing. As a matter of fact, the construction probably lasted twice as long as Dangote’s expectation and partial refining capability will not be attained until 2022, according to Reuters.

Upon completion, the Dangote Refinery will be the biggest oil refinery in Africa and the biggest single-train facility in the world. The oil refinery is also projected to provide 9,500 direct employment, and 25,000 indirect employment. The Dangote Refinery will also eliminate the importation of fuel from other regions into Nigeria.

In February, Nigerian business Tycoon and philanthropist Femi Otedola visited the Dangote refinery and disclosed that the refinery was 75% near completion. He took to his Instagram page to describe the refinery as the “8^th wonder of the world.”

“Yesterday, the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited did a test run of its Fertilizer plant which is the second-largest in the world after that of Qatar. Surely his dream of local refining is materializing as the 8^th wonder of the world gradually evolves. Kudos to the entire Dangote Industries Limited team!” he wrote.

Dangote Refinery Location & Facility

The Dangote Refinery is located on a 6,180 acres (2,500 hectares) site at Lekki (Lekki Free Zone), Lagos State, Nigeria. According to reports, the refinery will process about 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, transporting crude oil via pipelines from the Niger Delta. There will also be provision for natural gas to supply the fertilizer factory, as well as be used in electrical generation for the refinery complex.

The whole project is said to cost almost $15 billion, with $10 billion going to the refinery, $2.5 billion to the fertilizer factory, and $2.5 billion in pipeline infrastructure.