Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical, expected to become operational next year, has indicated that it will collaborate with the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) to distribute petroleum products from the refinery across the country. It is a $18 billion 650,000 barrels per day integrated refinery.
According to a statement from Dangote Industries Limited recently, members of the association paid a visit to the refinery in Ibeju-Lekki during which they toured the facility and expressed their willingness to collaborate on the distribution of refined products.
The NARTO President, Alhaji Lawal Othman, expressed confidence in the refinery’s size and content and welcomed plans to construct a road from the refinery through Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State in order to help decongest the roads and smoothen operations.
Othman talked about the state of the downstream sector of the oil industry and expressed the need for deregulation of the oil and gas sector.
He said, “Many people are not refining because the sector is still regulated. It is difficult to invest billions of dollars into a sector, where prices are determined by the government. Deregulation will encourage more players into the downstream sector.”
Othman said members of NARTO had been assured that their businesses were going to be protected when the refinery comes on stream under the Petroleum Industry Act.
He stated, “We came on a tour of Dangote Refinery to assess the level of construction work going on at the site and also to reassure our members that the refinery is going to have a positive impact on their business, most especially with the signing into law of the Petroleum Industry Bill.”
The president said fears of Dangote Refinery competing with them had been allayed as the company said 70% of the refined products would be transported through the sea and 30% by trucking.
He said the company had assured it would not be a player in the retail of petroleum products and would be partnering with truck owners instead.
The refinery is a project under construction in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos, and is expected to be Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility.
The Pipeline Infrastructure at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is the largest anywhere in the world, with 1,100 kilometers to handle 3 Billion Standard Cubic Foot of gas per day. The Refinery alone has a 400MW Power Plant that is able to meet the total power requirement of Ibadan DisCo.
State-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has secured approval from the Nigerian Government to acquire a 20% stake in the Dangote refinery for $2.76bn and is planned for commissioning by the first quarter of 2022.
