Buhari Commissions Dangote Refinery as Nigeria Seeks to End Fuel Imports

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Project, a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited owned by Aliko Dangote, was commissioned today, Monday, May 22nd, by President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari at the Free Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria. The 650,000 barrels per day oil processing facility was designed to process crude oil grades from the three continents of Africa, Asia and America.

Speaking at the inauguration Buhari said the $19 billion facility has placed Nigeria on a path of becoming “self-sufficiency in refined products, and even have some surplus for export”.

“This clearly makes this event a notable milestone for our economy and a game-changer for the downstream petroleum products market, not only in Nigeria but the entire African continent,” the president said.

Buhari, emphasising the importance of the project, stated that Nigeria's economy has been pressured for decades by inefficiencies in economic infrastructure and a decade of insurgency.

He also stated that the global financial crisis, the drop in oil prices, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war have all had a significant impact.

According to the president, the repercussions of these issues place a significant burden on "our economy, limiting the government's ability to provide basic infrastructure without resorting to massive borrowing."

"Our government, therefore, took the decision to focus attention on creating an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and fill the enormous depth in investments not only in infrastructure but also in all critical sectors," Buhari added.

L-R: Vice President-Elect of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima; Executive Governor of Lagos, StateBabajide Sanwo-Olu; Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari; President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo and other prominent guests at the commissioning of Dangote Refinery in Lagos.

“We recognise that without the active participation of the private sector and a strong commitment to a public-private partnership, our economy will continue to remain severely challenged.

“Government, therefore, will and should continue to provide an enabling environment and encourage innovative public-private partnership in all sectors of our economy.”

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery sits on 2,635 hectares of land in the Dangote Industries Free Zone in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, and employs over 100,000 persons.

The project's completion is expected to mark Nigeria's departure from the league of oil-rich nations that are significant importers of petroleum products.

It was anticipated that the new refinery would meet 100 per cent of Nigeria's refined product requirements (gasoline, 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), as well as have a surplus of each of these products for export.

The refinery is also stated to be intended for 100% Nigerian crude, with the ability to process other crudes if necessary.

While addressing guests at the event, Dangote thanked Buhari for his unwavering commitment to the project. He assured that petroleum products from the refinery would circulate in the Nigerian market soon.

“Our first goal is to ramp up projections of various productions to ensure that within this year, we are able to fully satisfy our nation’s demand for higher quality products to enable us to eliminate the tragedy of import dependency and stop, once and for all, the dumping in our market of toxic substandard petroleum products,” he said.