Adewale Sanyaolu
The Dangote Petroleum refinery is to process 65.4 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, Diesel (AGO), Aviation Jet fuel, and Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) daily, when it becomes operational.
The 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) Dangote refinery which is to commence operations in 2020 is expected to transform Nigeria from a petrol import-dependent country to an exporter of refined petroleum products. The company’s plan is to satisfy Nigeria’s demand for petrol, aviation fuel, kerosene and diesel, leaving a surplus for export.
According to the Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects & Portfolio Development, Devakumar Edwin, the refinery is being designed to accommodate multiple grades of domestic and foreign crude and process these into high-quality gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation fuels that meet Euro V emissions’ specifications, plus polypropylene.
He said the refinery would also include a crude distillation unit, single-train residual fluid catalytic cracking unit, diesel hydro-treating unit, continuous catalyst regeneration unit, alkylation unit, and a polypropylene unit.
“The project will provide thousands of direct and indirect jobs and add value to Nigeria’s economic development. It will lead to significant skills transfer and technology acquisition opportunities in the country,” he added.
Edwin disclosed that the company is also constructing the largest fertiliser plant in West Africa with capacity to produce 3 million tonnes of urea per year. The Dangote Fertiliser complex consists of ammonia and urea plants with associated facilities and infrastructure.
“Dangote fertiliser project is planned to possess unique features like having the largest granulated urea fertiliser complex under development in the global fertiliser industry, with an investment of $2 billion and a capacity of 3 million tonnes per annum, covering some 500 hectares of land,” he added.