The Dangote Petroleum refinery, has set a target of 30 days to begin operating at full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
Head of Refinery, Edwin Devakumar, disclosed this on Monday, according to a report by Reuters.
According to him, the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery built by Nigerian billionaire, Aliko Dangote, in Lagos, began processing crude into products, including diesel, naphtha, and jet fuel, in January last year and started processing petrol in September.
“The refinery was currently operating at 85% capacity, and we can go 100 percent in 30 days,” Devakumar stated.
Devakumar noted that last year, the refinery had to import crude oil after it could not secure enough supply locally, despite an agreement with the Nigerian government to buy crude in the local naira currency.
According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the refinery has requested 550,000 bpd of crude for January-June this year from Nigerian oil producers.
NNPCL has also stated that it would block export permits for oil cargoes from producers that fail to meet their stipulated supply quota to local refineries.
The Dangote Oil Refinery is also working on expanding new markets for its refined products.
Aliko Dangote, founder of Dangote Refinery told a group of visiting Nigerian professionals last week that the refinery had sent two cargoes of jet fuel to Saudi Aramco as part of its plans to expand.
Devakumar stated that the refinery is actively exploring all available markets to expand its reach.
The refinery is expected to compete with European refiners once it reaches full capacity but has faced challenges in securing sufficient crude locally.
