Femi Otedola, the billionaire businessman, has declared that Dangote Refinery will support Nigeria’s energy security.
On Sunday, Otedola made this announcement on his X (previously Twitter) handle. There, he congratulated Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa and his “bestie,” on the refinery’s production starting. The refinery was commissioned in May, just before the term of former President Muhammadu Buhari ended.
He said, “By meeting our requirements for all refined petroleum products, it will champion energy security and independence for our nation and act as a catalyst for a new era of prosperity for the subcontinent. It promises economic transformation for Nigerians today and for generations to come.”
Otedola started his piece on the social media platform by congratulating Dangote.
“I heartily congratulate my bestie #AlikoDangote as the 8th Wonder of the World – the $20 Billion #DangoteGroup Refinery – officially commences production.
“The Dangote Petrochemical Complex, which consists of the world’s largest single-train 650,000 barrels per day Petroleum Refinery, a 1 million metric tonnes of Polypropylene per-annum facility, and two of the world’s largest Fertilizer Trains – with a capacity of producing three Million Tonnes of Urea – is much more than just an industrial milestone; it’s a testament to the visionary leadership and relentless pursuit of excellence of one of Africa’s finest and most dogged patriots,” he said.
Providing more details, Otedola revealed that he had a front-row seat in the conceptualisation and process of establishing the refinery, saying “I am familiar with the sleepless nights you’ve had to work through over the last decade to bring this dream to fruition.”
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He added “This refinery is a beacon of hope for millions of Nigerians and Africans. It is also at the vanguard of championing environmental sustainability. With its Carbon capture technologies and storage processes it will capture up to 90 per cent+ of the CO2 emitted and also play a significant role in reducing well-to-tank carbon emissions from crude oil maritime transportation, thereby playing its own role in helping Nigeria meet its target for net-zero emissions by 2060.
“The Refinery recircles 100 per cent of its water. The heat coming out of the process is fully captured to produce 50MW of Power. Dangote is also producing Euro 5 to replace the bad Euro 5 that has been dumped in Africa for a long time. Shipping 65,000 barrels per day of crude out of Nigeria and 650kbpd in refined products to Nigeria and nearby countries which is 480 ships of 1m barrels per day will save 1.5m to 2.5m tons of CO2 emissions. This will help the environment.”
Dangote Refinery said that it had received its first one million barrels of crude oil on Friday. The company added that the inaugural one million barrels of crude supply, which represents the first phase of the six million barrels to be supplied to its refinery by several suppliers, should sustain the initial 350,000 barrels per day needed for the commencement of crude production at its facility.
It also said that the next four cargoes will be supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in about three weeks while the final six cargoes will be supplied by ExxonMobil.
“This supply will facilitate the initial run of the refinery as well as kick-start the production of diesel, aviation fuel, and LPG before subsequently progressing to the production of Premium Motor Spirit,” the company said in a statement issued on Friday.
Dangote Refinery can process 650,000 barrels a day when at full capacity.
