In a historic development, the Dangote Refinery has officially begun petrol production, signaling a major step forward in Nigeria's drive for self-sufficiency in fuel production.
Aliko Dangote, the billionaire chairman of the Dangote Group, made the announcement on Tuesday, September 3, applauding the government's introduction of the naira-for-crude initiative, which he expects to cut foreign exchange demand by 40%.
Speaking on Arise TV, the oil mogul, Dangote expressed his gratitude to President Bola Tinubu's administration for creating an enabling environment for the refinery's success.
He highlighted the benefits of the naira for the crude initiative, stating that it will stabilize the naira, reduce dollar demand, and eliminate round-tripping.
"I want to thank President Bola Tinubu for creating this idea of Naira for crude and Naira for the product. Doing that will give a lot of stability to the Naira and remove 40 percent of the demand for dollars," he said.
With the refinery's production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, Dangote emphasized the significance of tracking loaded trucks and ships to determine national consumption accurately.
He noted that this will provide a clear picture of Nigeria's true consumption patterns.
"Now that we have this refinery working, it will show the true consumption of Nigeria. We can track each loaded truck and we will try as much as possible to track the loaded ships. Trucks, we can tell you where they are, and for some of the products we have, we can tell you the consumption," he explained.
The federal government's recent announcement in April allowing indigenous refineries to purchase crude oil in naira or dollars has paved the way for the Dangote Refinery's success.
Additionally, the government reported an increase in Nigeria's total crude oil and condensate reserves to 37.5 billion barrels as of January 1, 2024, with a life index of 68.01 years.
Recall that the removal of fuel subsidy in the country has led to an increase in fuel price and its scarcity which has contributed immensely to the inflation rate in the nation.
Dangote's refinery is poised to transform Nigeria's energy landscape, producing over half of its 650,000 barrels per day capacity into petrol.
