S07 ORA 2 2022 Dangote_ORA Master Template - 2016 New 20/04/2022 16:12 Page 23
ANALYSIS
ISSUE 2 2022 • WWW.OILREVIEWAFRICA.COM
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DANGOTE REFINERY:
BOOSTING NIGERIAN ECONOMY Originally scheduled to come on stream in 2019, Nigeria’s flagship Dangote refinery project is nearing completion with start up now anticipated this year. The scale of the venture brought together a small army of contractors from around the globe to get the job done. Marin Clark and Deblina Roy report.
Image Credit: Mammoet
This 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) refining facility is expected to redefine Nigeria’s domestic fuels production.
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OR A MULTI-BILLION dollar project like Nigeria’s flagship Dangote refinery, which is scheduled to come on stream later this year, it takes an army of contractors to get the job done.
And it is quite a job. This 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) refining facility is expected to redefine Nigeria’s domestic fuels production. Despite being a leading crude oil producer, the West African country has long been dependent on imported
fuels to meet domestic demand. That could be about to change with the new refinery, which is under construction in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos. The huge project site covers a land area of approximately 2,635 hectares, about six times the size of Victoria Island.
Strategic project When it launches, the Dangote refinery is expected to be Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world’s largest single-train facility. Its pipeline infrastructure
alone is the most extensive anywhere in the world, with 1,100 km to handle the flow of crude oil, plus 3 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day. In addition, the refinery boasts a 400 megawatts (MW) power plant that is able to meet the total electricity requirements of Ibadan DisCo, the local distributor. When the project finally comes on stream, it should meet 100 percent of Nigeria’s requirement of all refined products, as well as generate a surplus for export. Nigeria’s fuel supply squeeze is
in large part down to to the dilapidated state of its older, existing refineries.
Key challenges But there have been plenty of challenges along the way in getting lift off at Lekki. A launch date is yet to be set, though it is expected to be during 2022, while cost overruns have also impacted the scheme — a common challenge among mega projects such as export refineries and liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants.
