Nigeria’s Dangote refinery begins production after years of delays

Nigeria’s Dangote oil refinery has initiated production of diesel and aviation fuel, marking a significant milestone after years of construction delays at the 650,000 barrel per day (bpd) facility.

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest individual, invested $20 billion in building the continent’s largest refinery on the outskirts of Lagos.

This refinery aims to make Nigeria self-sufficient in fuel production and position the country as an exporter to neighboring West African nations, potentially reshaping oil trading in the Atlantic Basin.

Test runs are anticipated to commence this week following the arrival of the sixth crude oil cargo on January 8, according to company officials.

“This is a big day for Nigeria. We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone,” the company said in a statement posted on social media platform X.

The refinery recently received 1 million barrels of Nigeria’s Agbami crude, bringing the total since December to 6 million barrels.

Nigeria’s NNPC Ltd. is set to supply four crude cargoes to the refinery in February.

Experts suggest that it may take months to transition from test runs to full-capacity production of high-quality fuels after the refinery’s crude distillation unit startup.

Dangote plans to begin refining at 350,000 bpd and aims to achieve full production later this year.