Victor Ezeja
Dangote Refinery has finally begun refining Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol.
President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, made a presentation of the first sample of petrol produced from the refinery on Tuesday.
This comes after a series of postponements of the date for commencement of petrol refining and distribution across the country.
The 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery started operations in January but has been producing only diesel and aviation fuel.
The refinery conducted a test run of the product.
Speaking at the presentation on Tuesday in a broadcast at his refinery located in the Ibeju-Lekki Area of Lagos State, Dangote thanked Nigerians and the government of President Bola Tinubu for supporting the company to actualise the refinery project in the country.
He also thanked Tinubu for coming up with the crude oil sales in Naira policy, stressing that it would help in stabilising the value of the naira. According to him, the policy would remove about 40 per cent of the demands for dollars.
“I will like to salute the people of Nigeria and the government of President Bola Tinubu for creating the environment for us to thrive and also achieve this monumental task of giving energy to our people for growth, and prosperity.
“I want to thank President Bola Tinubu for creating this idea of Naira for crude and Naira for the product. Doing that will give a lot of stability to the Naira and remove 40 per cent of the demands for dollars in the market. That’s not just it, there is a lot of round tripping when people do documentation but fuel does not come into Nigeria,” Dangote stated in a live broadcast.
He said with refinery now working, it would show the true consumption of Nigeria. “We can track every single loaded trucks, and we woud try as much as possible to track the loaded ships. Tracks can tell you where they are.”
He said the refinery would change the dynamics of the petroleum sector not only in Nigeria but in the entire Sub-Saharan Africa.
He said the capacity of the $20 billion refinery will not only meet demands in Nigeria but the entire Sub-Saharan Africa.
Displaying a sample of the PMS, Dangote said it appears clearer than other petrol products currently in circulation.
Dangote said the product will hit the market as soon the company finalises arrangement with the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPCL), the sole importer of petroleum products in the country.
“As soon as we finalize with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, our product will start entering the market,” he stated.
The development comes as Nigerians grapple with petrol scarcity, long queues at filling stations and soaring prices.
The refinery is expected to boost domestic supply and reduce the price.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
