THE Dangote Petroleum Refinery has explained why it is currently operating below full capacity, saying it is expected to hit 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) before the end of the year.
The chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, hinted this to journalists during a tour of the refinery in Lekki, Lagos State.
He said the refinery is undergoing modifications to increase its nameplate capacity from 650,000 bpd to 700,000 bpd.
The billionaire businessman explained that the upgrade, which is expected to be concluded in the fourth quarter of this year, has limited the refinery’s current ability to operate at full capacity.
He believes an upgrade of the refinery would boost output beyond initial projections.
“Our RFCC [Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit] is at 85 per cent. We’re not at 100 per cent because of ongoing modifications. Once completed, we expect to hit 700,000 bpd. Some other units are even running at 145 per cent capacity,” Dangote said.
The RFCC unit is a critical component in converting heavy crude into lighter, more valuable products such as gasoline and diesel, and is central to the refinery’s operation.
The Dangote boss further hinted that the refinery had purchased 19 million barrels of crude oil from the United States between June and July, with its imports now accounting for 55 per cent of its feedstock needs.
“This month alone, we bought 10 million barrels from the US,” he said.
He said the failed attempt to acquire Nigeria’s state-owned refineries eventually led him to embark on building the $20 billion refinery, described as Africa’s largest single-train refinery.
“Building a refinery is not like building a house. If I had known the challenges ahead, I probably wouldn’t have started. But we pushed through, and we’re proud of what we’ve achieved,” Dangote said.
He pointed out that many African countries, apart from Algeria and Libya, still rely on imported fuels, making the refinery project crucial.
“This is how they attack our industries. Even in South Africa, only one refinery is still operating. We took the risk, and we’re delivering,” he added.
The upgrade of the Dangote Refinery came amid plans by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to sell the state-owned refineries – Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries.
The refineries have gulped billions of dollars over the years and have remained largely moribund.
Citing complications in revamping the refineries, NNPCL said it would be better if the facilities were sold off.
Its decision came after the moribund refineries had allegedly gulped about $18 billion in turnaround maintenance, The ICIR reported.