Yemisi Izuora
Dangote Refinery, which is still under construction is hopefully going to assist Nigeria’s anticipation of attaining 1.095 million barrels per day self-sufficiency in the refining of petroleum products.
Chief Operating Officer, Upstream, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Bello Rabiu, disclosed this yesterday at the on-going Nigeria Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Speaking on ‘Upstream Opportunity in the Oil and Gas Sector’, Rabiu commended the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote for his commitment to Nigeria’s downstream sector.
According to him, the coming on stream of the Dangote 650,000 barrels-per-day Refinery and efforts by NNPC to revamp the country’s refineries in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri, would help Nigeria to achieve zero importation of refined petroleum products.
Speaking during a technical session on “Infrastructure as a Key Enabler for Opportunities in the Oil and Gas Sector”, Executive Director, Dangote Group, Ahmed Mansur, said private sector investment and execution capacity in the Nigeria gas sector need to complement government’s efforts in the industry.
Mansur said the Dangote Group catalyzes private investment to supplement the federal government’s onshore gas development agenda.
He added that the company is building pipeline infrastructure that would augment the natural domestic gas supply and add an estimated 12,000 Mega Watts (MW) to Nigeria’s power generation capacity.
Mansur noted that the first phase of the project is expected to deliver gas for the use of Dangote Industries, including the proposed fertilizer plant in the refinery complex, and other identified industrial and power plant users.
“The pipeline infrastructure will create a corridor for evacuation of trapped gas from offshore platforms in Nigeria to allow their monetisation.
“The project is expected to improve gas supply security for use by power plants, fertiliser production and other industrial factories. It will complement the existing gas supply system in the country and also complement the Nigerian Gas Master Plan,” he added.
With works on the refinery being intensified to meet the completion deadline, Eng. Mansur said “We have bought 1026 trucks and tippers to improve the capacity of the local logistics. We have set up the world largest ready-mix concrete capacity at any given location to produce ready mix concrete including 72 concrete pumps and 141 transit mixers since the annual concrete manufacturing capacity in the country is inadequate.”
He stated further that the company is currently training 200 artisans selected from the Ibeju Lekki host communities in the areas of Masonry, Carpentry, AC Electricians, Plumbing, Welders, Iron-benders and Auto Mechanics. In collaboration with the Nigerian Directorate of Employment and Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board.