Nigeria: Dangote Refinery receives first crude cargo

Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals have taken a significant stride in enhancing Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity and achieving energy security by acquiring 1 million barrels of Agbami crude grade from Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (STASCO), a leading global and Nigerian trading entity handling over 8 million barrels of crude oil daily.

The STASCO shipment, comprising 1 million barrels of Agbami crude, was delivered to Dangote Refinery’s Single Point Mooring (SPM) and subsequently discharged into the refinery’s crude oil storage tanks.

The initial 1 million barrels, marking the first phase of the 6 million barrels planned for supply to Dangote Petroleum Refinery from various sources, will support the initial processing capacity of 350,000 barrels per day at the facility. The following four shipments, to be provided by the NNPC, are expected within two to three weeks, with ExxonMobil supplying the final cargo in this series of six.

Dangote Refinery has a self-sufficient marine facility with the ability to handle the largest vessel globally available. In addition, all products from the refinery will conform to Euro V specifications.

The refinery is designed to comply with US EPA, European emission norms, and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) emission/effluent norms as well as African Refiners and Distribution Association (ARDA) standards.

President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote stated: “We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone. This is an important achievement for our country as it demonstrates our ability to develop and deliver large capital projects. Our focus over the coming months is to ramp up the refinery to its full capacity. I look forward to the next significant milestone when we deliver the first batch of products to the Nigerian market.”

Country Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, stated: “We welcome the startup of a refinery that is designed to produce gasoline, diesel, and low-sulphur fuels for Nigeria and across West Africa and are happy to be enabling it.”