Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, will play host to many oil and gas industry heavyweights who will be arriving from all over the world on Monday to attend the inauguration of the world’s largest single-train refinery, a 650,000 barrels per day facility constructed by Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
The refinery, which will be inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari and seven African presidents, will alter the international energy landscape and attempt to sanitise the country’s petroleum sector by putting an end to the smuggling of imported fuels outside of the country.
Currently, 80 percent of petroleum in Africa, including Cape Town, Dakar, and other regions, is imported. The refinery is expected to resolve this issue.
In addition to international dignitaries, the presidents of Togo, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, Senegal, Macky Sall, Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum, and Chad, Mahamat Déby, are expected to attend the historic occasion.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who would not be physically present, would deliver his message of benevolence virtually.
At the time this report was filed, all 36 state governors and the majority of governors-elect, ministers, senators, and industry leaders from Nigeria and other countries had indicated their willingness to attend the ceremony.
The incoming president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, whose administration as Lagos governor in 2002 established the Free Trade Zone in Ibeju-Lekki, where the refinery is located, is also anticipated to attend.
The governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, referred to the facility as “a continental game-changer with enormous potential to transform the Nigerian and African economies.”
Professor Benedict Oramah, president of Afreximbank, disclosed that the bank was the largest financier of the over $19 billion Dangote Refinery, the world’s largest petroleum refining facility, which will begin operations this month.
Bismarck Rewane, a renowned economist and CEO of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, noted that when completely operational, the Dangote refinery could help strengthen Nigeria’s macroeconomic stability.
A large number of Nigerian government officials, including ministers, governors, senators, and heads of relevant government agencies and institutions, were anticipated to be guests at the event.
According to the source, global commodity traders in the oil and gas industry would be in attendance, including Singapore-based Trafigura, one of the world’s largest independent traders of oil and petroleum products, and Vitol, a Swiss-Dutch multinational energy and commodity trading company.
“Many individuals are coming, including governors and senators. This one is similar to the inauguration’s climax; it’s inauguration week. All of these oil traders, including Trafigura, Vitol, and others, will be present, according to a source.
Mallam Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC); Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC); and Mr. Ahmed Farouk, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), are expected to attend the inauguration from Nigeria.
Others include Mr. Gabriel Aduda, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources; Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Mr. Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; and Mr. Femi Otedola.
It was learned that representatives of downstream associations, such as the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), were also invited.
A senior official at the refinery told reporter, “You can imagine, those who formerly supplied us with finished goods will cease operations.” They will seek elsewhere to dump their crude oil and sell their refined goods.
“And this door has closed for them, as it was a profitable enterprise for them for over three decades. Therefore, Nigerians should be pleased.
“The end of smuggling has arrived. The issue of individuals transporting goods across international borders no longer exists. Nigeria will now provide crude oil to a legitimate refinery. Therefore, regardless of how you view it, whether as oil theft or cuddling, it will restore sanity to the sector.
“People transport all of this fuel to the frontier in order to make money, and they will tell you that local consumption is high, despite the fact that the majority of it is crossing into Cameroon, Niger, or Benin.
“You know, it’s not simple to bring sanity into any environment, and people will frustrate you if you try. Therefore, it is unfortunate for those who resist, as the change has arrived. Whether they enjoy it or not, they will conform. People can no longer endure to suffer for so long. There will be a light at the end of the tunnel one day.”
The refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, has a land area of approximately 2,635 hectares, which is seven times the size of Victoria Island, according to the Dangote Group project fact sheet.
The refinery is the largest single-train refinery in the world and the largest in Africa. A single-train refinery uses an integrated distillation unit or a single Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) to refine crude oil into a variety of petroleum products, as opposed to large refineries, which use multiple distillation units.
Due to the refinery’s enormous capacity, its pipeline infrastructure is the largest in the world, spanning 1,100 kilometres to transport three billion Standard Cubic Feet per day (Scf/d) of gas.
The refinery’s 435MW-capacity power facility is capable of meeting Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company’s (IBEDC) total power demand.
The refinery is capable of meeting 100 percent of Nigeria’s demand for all refined petroleum products, including petrol (53 million litres per day), diesel (34 million litres per day), kerosene (10 million litres per day) and aviation jet (2 million litres per day). There is also an export surplus of each of these products.
Designed for 100% Nigerian crude with the flexibility to process other crudes, the refinery has a self-sufficient marine facility with freight optimisation capability and the largest single order of 5 SPMs in the world.
The refinery has been characterised as a legacy project that will generate $21 billion annually for Nigeria.
The company stated that diesel and petrol from the refinery would adhere to Euro V standards.
According to the fact document, the refinery design complies with World Bank, US EPA, European, and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) emission/effluent standards. Cutting-edge technology. Designed to process a wide range of crudes, including a significant number of African crudes, some Middle Eastern crudes, and US Light Tight Oil.”
In addition, it stated, “65 Million Cubic Metres of sand will be dredged at a cost of approximately 300 million Euros using the world’s largest, second largest and tenth largest dredgers to raise the height by 1.5 metres to mitigate any potential effects of a rise in mean sea level due to global warming.” Purchased over 1,209 units of a variety of equipment to increase the local capacity for construction site activity.
“Purchased 332 cranes to increase capacity for equipment installation. Built the largest granite quarry in the world to provide coarse aggregate, stone column material, stone base, stone dust, and break water material. (10 million tonnes of production capacity per year).
“Developed a port and built two quays with a load capacity of 25 tonnes per square metre to deliver Over Dimensional Cargoes directly to the site. The company also constructed two additional quays in the port with the capacity to handle Panamax vessels for exporting fertiliser and petrochemicals, as well as two quays for liquid cargoes. Therefore, the port will have six quays, including one Roll-on/Roll-off quay.”