Source: BUSINESS DAY
Billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote will roll out petrol from his $20 billion refinery next month and list it on the stock market in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025.
Dangote disclosed these on Sunday at a press briefing in Lagos, noting that he will commence the sale of petrol directly to marketers beginning in August 2024.
According to Dangote, the refinery will commence full operations in 2024, starting with the refining of intermediate products such as polypropylene, naphtha, RCO, gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
He said the refinery’s steady-state production phase commenced in March 2024, noting that it will ramp up production to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), with 15 crude cargoes a month by August, 550,000 bpd by end of the year, and 650, 000 bpd by first quarter of 2025.
“Petrol production is to commence in July with sales from August,” Dangote noted.
Dangote told senior journalists that the crude supply challenge, which affected the supply of petrol from the refinery, was resolved last week after the federal government intervened.
Listings in Q1 2025
He also announced plans to list the much-anticipated refinery and fertilizer plants on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) by the first quarter of 2025.
The decision to list the two subsidiaries comes as the conglomerate seeks to expand its investor base and unlock further value for shareholders.
NNPCL stake now 7.2%
The Africa’s richest man also clarified that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited holds only a 7.2 percent stake in the Dangote Refinery, contrary to the previously reported 20 percent.
According to Dangote, the Nigerian oil company now owns only 7.2 percent of the refinery due to its failure to pay the balance of their share, which was due last month in June.
He stated that while the NNPCL had promised to provide the funds, it had been unable to meet its obligations, thus reducing its stake in the refinery to 7.2 percent.
“NNPC no longer owns a 20% stake in the Dangote refinery. They were meant to pay their balance in June, but have yet to fulfill the obligations. Now, they only own a 7.2% stake in the refinery,” Dangote said on Sunday.
He further disclosed that the delay in securing a site for the Dangote Petrochemical Facility in Ogun State has resulted in a $500 million loss for his conglomerate.
Dangote attributed the financial setback to the protracted process of acquiring Olokola land for a petrochemical facility, which cost him $500 million on the $2.5 billion initial drawdown on bank loans
He expressed disappointment over the bureaucratic hurdles encountered, which significantly impacted the project timeline and overall costs.
“The three years and eight months delay by the Ogun State government over Olokola land for the petrochemicals facility costs us $500m,” Dangote said.
He explained that a total of $25 billion investments have been made in petrol refinery and fertilizer plant by the Dangote Group over the past 10 years.
Data sourced from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows foreign investors shunned Ogun, Osun and 31 other states as Lagos, FCT, and Ekiti were the ones which attracted investors with each recording $2.78 billion, $593.58 million, and $12.7 million investments respectively in Q1 2024.
BusinessDay’s findings showed Dangote initially designed the petrochemical and refinery plant to be domiciled in the Olokola Free Trade Zone, straddling the states of Ondo and Ogun. The plan was somehow reportedly frustrated by unseen hands within the political space.
The then Governor Babatunde Fashola-led Government of Lagos State grabbed the golden opportunity, which has now become a reality.
World largest contractor
The coming on stream of Africa’s biggest oil refinery has transformed the Dangote Group conglomerate into a global construction site, according to findings by BusinessDay.
The refinery, a colossal undertaking situated in Lekki, Lagos, boasts a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
This engineering marvel required an unprecedented level of infrastructure, logistics, and manpower, transforming the Dangote Group into a construction powerhouse overnight, according to Dangote.
Dangote further said it is not a tea party building the petroleum refinery as he encountered a lot of challenges, which were not easily surmountable.
“The project’s immense scope necessitated the mobilisation of a vast workforce, the deployment of cutting-edge machinery, and the establishment of a robust supply chain. These operational demands pushed the Dangote Group to expand its construction capabilities exponentially, positioning it as a global leader in the field,” he noted.
He said it is a thing of pride that a Nigerian company designed and built the world’s largest single-train refinery complex, handling its Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract, noting that most refineries were built by foreign companies.
“Dangote is one of the few companies in the world executing a petroleum refinery and a petrochemical complex directly as an EPC contractor,” Dangote said at the briefing.
Dangote Refinery also incorporates a self-sufficient marine facility capable of handling the world’s largest vessels.
“The refinery can produce the best quality products in the world, Euro V grade. It is one of the energy-efficient refineries and it is highly environmentally-friendly. It is sophisticated with a high level of automation. The largest single train refinery in the world is 100 percent designed, engineered, and constructed by a Nigerian company as EPC contractor,” he added.
THE AUTHOR: Oladehinde Oladipo
