Dangote expresses gratitude to Tinubu, NNPCL, others as refinery begins production

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President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is grateful to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support, encouragement and thoughtful advice as Dangote Petroleum Refinery project commences production of diesel and aviation fuel.

Also, Dangote is grateful to others, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Limited), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and Nigerians for their support and belief in the milestone project.

In a statement, Dangote stated that, “We thank President Bola Tinubu for his support and for making our dream come true. This production, as witnessed today, would not have been possible without his visionary leadership and prompt attention to details. His intervention at various stages cleared all impediments thereby accelerating the actualisation of the project. We also thank the NNPC, NUPRC and NMDPRA for their support. These organisations have been our dependable partners in this historic journey. We also thank Nigerians for their belief and support in this project. We have started the production of diesel and aviation fuel, and the products will be in the market within this month once we receive regulatory approvals.

“This is a big day for Nigeria. 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. This is a game changer for our country, and I am very fulfilled with the actualisation of this project.”

Indeed, the Dangote Refinery has received six million barrels of crude oil at its two SPMs located 25 kilometres from the shore for it to begin operations, with the first crude consignment delivered on December 12, 2023, and the sixth cargo on January 8, 2024.

The refinery has capacity to load 2,900 trucks a day at its truck-loading gantries.

It is assured that the products from the Refinery will conform to Euro V specification as the refinery design complies with the World Bank, US EPA, European emission norms, and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) emission/effluent norms; employing state-of-the-art technology.

The statement added, “I must extend our sincere appreciation to our Bankers and financiers, both local and offshore, who demonstrated a great deal of patience, in seeing us through many difficult times. In the same vein, we thank the Government of Lagos State, under the leadership of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who has been incredibly proactive in ensuring that the many challenges we encountered in the course of executing this project were quickly resolved. I thank him immensely.

“I also sincerely thank our host communities and their Traditional leaders for their sustained patience, forbearance and admirable willingness to work with us to find amicable and win-win resolutions to the many issues we have had to deal with as the construction of this huge facility progressed. Our staff have also contributed so immensely to the success of this project. I thank them profusely.”