Dangote Group, controlled by Africa’s richest man, expects an oil refinery it is building in Nigeria to come on-stream in late 2017 or the first half of 2018.
The plant in the Lagos area will be able to process 500,000 bpd of crude, George Nicolaides, Dangote Industries’ operations director for petroleum
refining, said in an interview at the
Platts African RefiningSummit in Cape Town today.
“The site is being cleared, the plant is being designed,” Nicolaides said. “We are close to the beginning of detailed engineering.”
In September last year, Dangote said it had agreed on a $3.3 billion loan with 12 Nigerian and foreign lenders to build the
refinery as well as a
petrochemical and fertilizer complex costing a total of $9 billion. At the time, the facility in Africa’s biggest economy was expected to be completed in 2016 and the capacity of the
refinerywas put at 400,000 bpd.
“We have a very ambitious
construction schedule,” Nicolaides said. “I’m not sure about the history of those dates.”
While Nigeria is Africa’s top producer of crude oil, it relies on fuel imports to meet more than 70% of its needs. Four state refineries with a combined capacity of 445,000 bpd are operating at a fraction of that because of poor
maintenance and aging equipment.
Dangote selected Engineers
India Ltd. to do most of the detailed engineering work for the new plant.
Construction contractors have yet to be appointed.
“Supplying the local market is the primary objective,” Nicolaides said. “Naturally we can move product to the region. The government is being very supportive, very enthusiastic about this
project. We are not looking for or wanting any particular subsidies.”
The group owns Dangote Cement Plc, the country’s biggest company by market value, Dangote Sugar
Refinery Plc, Dangote Industries Ltd. and Dangote Oil Services Ltd. Its president is Aliko Dangote, who is worth $20.2 billion, according to the
Bloomberg Billionaires Index.