Relief For Nigerians As Shipment Of Oil Arrive Dangote Refinery
Market sources and tanker tracking data indicate that the inaugural shipment of crude feedstock for Dangote’s 650,000 b/d refinery has arrived in Nigeria.
After encountering years of delays, this development signals the readiness to commence fuel production at the $19 billion facility.
On December 6, the OTIS tanker delivered a cargo of 950,000 barrels of Agbami crude, which was unloaded at the Dangote refinery terminal on Thursday. The Suezmax tanker, chartered by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), serves as the initial crude supplier for Dangote’s refinery as it initiates operations.
Despite being officially completed in May, the privately owned refinery faced a production standstill due to a lack of domestic crude feedstock. However, the NNPC, holding a 20% stake in the refinery, recently committed to providing 6 million barrels of crude oil as feedstock in December.
Agbami, known for its light, sweet crude with a gravity of 47.9 API and low sulfur content, is managed by Chevron, overseeing one of Nigeria’s significant deepwater developments in the central Niger Delta region.
An oil trader mentioned that NNPCL has chartered additional tankers to transport additional crude shipments from offshore fields to the refinery later this month. Despite unveiling the refinery in 2013, startup delays persisted, though key units were installed in 2019.
The crude distillation unit is designed to handle twelve different crude oil types simultaneously, with a specific focus on processing three Nigerian crude grades—Escravos, Bonny Light, and Forcados.
Once operational at full capacity, the refinery is expected to produce 327,000 barrels of gasoline, 244,000 barrels of gasoil/diesel, and 56,000 barrels of jet fuel/kerosene daily. Additionally, it is projected to generate an annual production of 290,000 metric tons of propane/LPG.
