Lagos, Sept. 3, 2024 – Dangote Refinery on Tuesday started commercial production of petrol with a promise to sell 25 million litres to the Nigeria market this September.
The refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, commenced commercial production after completing an all round testing period.
Aliko Dangote, the Chairman of the Dangote Group, who was at the refinery complex on Tuesday morning at the commencement of the launch of commercial production, said he was elated by the take-off of petrol production, assuring Nigerians of the highest standard of the product.
“It’s a celebration day for Nigerians, the quality here will match that of anywhere in the world, US, America; we will make sure that nobody will beat us in terms of quality.
He thanked Nigerians, the federal government and particularly President Bola Tinubu for their support.
“I want to personally also thank Mr. President for creating this idea of naira for crude and also naira for the product.
“This will give a lot of stability for the naira because you remove 40% of the demand of the dollars in the market. That’s not only it,” he said.
Dangote said Nigeria would have much to gain from the take off of the refinery as it would ensure adequate supply of petrol across the country, put an end to long queues for petrol at the filling stations and check the unstable naira exchange rate.
He said although the refinery had started commercial production, but he could not determine the price and when its product would be available at the filling stations as that will depend on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
He also said the petrol pricing structure is being approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
“Our PMS can be in filling stations within the next 48 hours, depending on NNPCL,” he said.
Under the current arrangement, the NNPCL is to take up all the daily production from the refinery and sell to the local market.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) confirmed that it had concluded arrangements for daily sale of crude oil to Dangote and to sell the product in Nigeria.
“At the NMDPRA headquarters in Abuja, NNPCL reach an agreement to commence crude oil sale and supply to Dangote Refinery in local currency.
“The refinery is now poised to supply an initial 25 million litres of PMS into the domestic market this September. And will subsequently increase this amount to 30 million liters daily from October 2024,” NMDPRA said in a statement in Tuesday. (GBN)
