A mega-refinery in Nigeria has received its first barrels of crude oil, an "important milestone" in a project that aims to fully meet the country's fuel needs, the company that established it announced this week.
On its first day, one million barrels from the Agbami offshore oil field, off the Niger Delta, was unloaded by ship at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in the Lekki free zone, east of Lagos, the economic capital.
Aliko Dangote, who founded Dangote Petroleum Refinery, said in a statement that "the next big step will be to get our products to the Nigerian market".
Initially scheduled for late July, early August, oil refining should enable Nigeria to put an end to frequent fuel shortages and also increase the quality of fuel in circulation.
Nigeria has a population of 215 million and is one of Africa's biggest oil producers, but imports almost all its fuel due to the failure of its state refineries, with fuel shortages plaguing the daily lives of its inhabitants.
Launched in 2013, the $18.5 billion-plus industrial project is "the largest single-train refinery in the world", according to the Dangote Group, and should, at full capacity, have the largest crude refining capacity on the African continent.
The facility is expected to refine 350 000 barrels a day initially, rising to 650 000 when fully operational. It will produce diesel, jet fuel, automotive fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas.
The industrial site has been built next to the new Lekki deep-water port, which is intended to relieve congestion at the Port of Lagos, but also to export some of Dangote's refined oil to other African countries.
According to Dangote, eventually "at least 40% of the refinery's capacity will be available for export, which should result in significant foreign exchange earnings for the country".
