…Plant exceeds domestic needs across product lines
It has been estimated that the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) Dangote Refinery, which is ready for commissioning next week, would add about $21 billion (N9.7 trillion at the current exchange rate) yearly to the Nigerian economy.
A fact sheet on Dangote Refinery obtained by The Guardian revealed that the plant is the world’s largest single-train 650,000bpd petroleum refinery with 900 KTPA polypropylene plant.
The fact sheet drawn by the company, said: “The Dangote refinery plant is a legacy project that will see Nigeria netting $21 billion per annum.”
Built by billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote, the refinery is located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, covering a land area of approximately 2,635 hectares (seven times the size of Victoria Island.)
The refinery is billed for commissioning by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 22.
It is projected that the refinery can meet 100 per cent of the Nigerian requirement of all refined products (gasoline, 53 million litres per day, diesel, 34 litres per day; Kerosene, 10 million litres per day and aviation jet, two million litres per day) and also have a surplus of each of the products for export.
Besides, the refinery is laced with a 435 megawatts (MWs) power plant, which is said to have the capacity to meet the total power requirement of five states.
The facility has 177 tanks of 4.742 billion-litre capacity, while the temporary housing units on the premises can house 33,000 persons.
Designed for 100 per cent Nigerian crude with the flexibility to process other crude grades, the fact sheet revealed that diesel and gasoline products from the refinery will conform to Euro V specifications.
For easy off-take of products, the plant is constructed with two quays with a load-bearing capacity of 25 tonnes/ sq meter to bring Over Dimensional Cargoes close to the site directly. It constructed two more quays in the port with a capacity to handle up to Panamax vessels to export the fertilizer and petrochemicals and two quays to handle liquid cargoes. The port will thus have six quays, including a Roll-on/Roll-off quay.
Meanwhile, the owner of the Dangote Refinery, Dangote had recently said the nation could save up to $10 billion in foreign exchange (FX) and generate massive employment.
He said: “The refinery’s completion will not only create direct and indirect jobs but also lead to skills transfer and technology acquisition opportunities that will benefit the downstream sector.
“Moreover, the refinery’s production of critical products like naphtha and polypropylene will stimulate the development of other industries, such as cosmetics, plastics, and textiles. Refineries on this scale could save Nigeria up to $10 billion in foreign exchange and generate approximately $10 billion from exports.
“We see room for development of added value in agribusiness too. Here, initiatives like our Sugar Backward Integration Projects look to create a strong localised supply in the sugar industry. To produce around 0.5 million tons of sugar per annum from locally grown sugar cane, benefits will be created across the sugar value chain for local suppliers,” he added.
Dangote is one of the few companies in the world executing a Petroleum Refinery and a Petrochemical complex directly as an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) Contractor. Globally, apart from three companies, no individual owner has done the complete EPC Contract for a Petroleum Refinery.
The company is training 900 young engineers in refinery operations outside the country, while another six mechanical engineers were trained in the GE University in Italy. Also, 50 process engineers have been trained by Honeywell/UOP for six months and 50 management trainees.
