Buhari commissions Dangote oil refinery

Nigeria recently opened the largest oil refinery in Africa, which is expected to help with the country's ongoing fuel shortages.

Nigeria is a big producer of oil, but the majority of this is exported, and it must import the refined petroleum used in cars and other machinery.

As a result, the nation frequently experiences ongoing gasoline shortages.

This is the issue that Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa, hopes to solve with his $19 billion (£15.2 billion) refinery.

The plant, which is currently not in use, has the ability to manufacture more than enough petroleum products to meet the demands of the entire nation at a rate of roughly 650,000 barrels per day. A power plant, a deep-water port, and a fertiliser mill are also included.

Nigeria's existing refineries have been completely shut down for over three years owing to oil theft, pipeline vandalism and structural neglect.

At Monday's launch, Mr Dangote outlined his hopes for the refinery: "Our first goal is to ramp up production of the various products to ensure that within this year, we are able to fully satisfy the nation's demand for quality products."

What effect the plant will have on gasoline prices in a nation where retail prices are subsidised is unclear, though. These subsidies, which accounted for about a third of the national budget last year, will soon be eliminated, according to the government.

According to reports, Mr. Dangote's plant in Lagos, which took over seven years to construct, is the largest single-train refinery in the world. This means that rather than having separate units for each type of product, the plant has one integrated distillery system that can manufacture a variety of goods and petrochemicals.

It is one of the final significant projects President Buhari will launch before he leaves office next week after two terms in government.

He will hand power to Bola Tinubu, who won the disputed presidential elections in February.

Source