Dangote oil refinery built atthe cost of 19 billion U.S. dollars in Nigeria received one million barrels of crude oil from state-owned oil company NNPC Ltd, the second crude oil cargo received this month, as it steps up preparations to begin operations, an official said on Wednesday.
A Reuters report quoted the Dangote the official saying that the crude oil had been loaded at Bonny Terminal operated by Shell and would be discharged at the refinery outside Lagos on Wednesday, adding that additional three million barrels were expected before the end of December.
Dangote has said it expects more cargoes to be supplied by NNPC this month as well as one from ExxonMobil.
Nigeria’s OPEC oil quota for next year is 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) but the government says it plans to produce 1.8 million bpd to ensure supplies to the Dangote plant and state-owned refineries that are being upgraded.
Although the refinery is years behind schedule, its operations are expected to turn Africa’s largest oil producer into a net exporter of fuels, a long-sought goal for the OPEC member that almost totally relies on imports.