DANGOTE Oil Refining Company says its plant is awaiting the second shipment of barrels of crude in three weeks after it received its maiden one million barrels on Friday.
The company, in a statement, said the STASCO vessel sailed to the refinery’s single-point mooring, where it was discharged into the refinery’s crude oil from the Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited.
This newspaper reports that the first crude feedstock for Dangote’s 650,000 b/d refinery has arrived in the country, according to SP Global quoting market sources and tanker tracking data.
The analytical firm said the development indicated that fuel production at the new $19 billion facility is finally set to start after years of delays.
According to the report; the OTIS tanker loaded a 950,000-barrel cargo of Agbami crude on Dec. 6 and was discharged at the refinery’s terminal on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, had said the plant would start production with 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude.
In the statement, the firm said the inaugural one million barrels, representing the first phase of the six million barrels to be supplied to the refinery by a range of suppliers, should sustain the initial 350,000 bpd to be processed by the facility.
The refinery said it will receive the next four cargoes — to be supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited — in two or three weeks.
“The next four cargoes will be supplied by the NNPC in two to three weeks and the final of the six cargoes will be supplied by ExxonMobil.
“This supply will facilitate the initial run of the refinery as well as kick-start the production of diesel, aviation fuel, and LPG before subsequently progressing to the production of Premium Motor Spirit.
“This latest development will play a pivotal role in alleviating the fuel supply challenges faced by Nigeria as well as the West African countries,” the statement added.
