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Dangote refinery to begin operation 2018

By on November 19, 2014

Indication emerged on Monday that Dangote Group’s oil refinery project for Nigeria would come on stream in 2018.

The Director of Petroleum Refining, Dangote Industries, Mr. George Nicolaides, said in an interview at the Platts African Refining Summit in Cape Town, South Africa, on Monday that the plant located at Olokola Free Trade Zone, Ondo State, would process 500,000 barrels of crude a day.

“The site is being cleared; the plant is being designed,” Nicolaides was quoted by Bloomberg as saying, “We are close to the beginning of detailed engineering.”

Dangote had said in September last year that it had agreed on a $3.3bn loan with 12 Nigerian and foreign lenders to build the refinery as well as a petrochemical and fertilizer complex costing a total of $9bn.

The facility was initially expected to be completed in 2016 and the capacity of the refinery was put at 400,000 barrels a day.

“We have a very ambitious construction schedule,” Nicolaides said, adding that, “I’m not sure about the history of those dates.”

Dangote has named Engineers India Limited to do most of the detailed engineering work for the new plant. Construction contractors have yet to be appointed.

“Supplying the local market is the primary objective,” Nicolaides said, explaining that, “Naturally, we can move products to the region. The government is being very supportive, very enthusiastic about this project. We are not looking for or wanting any particular subsidies.”

The refinery, according to the President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, will generate over 10,000 direct jobs and end the importation of refined petroleum products into the country.

 

[Punch]