Dangote disclosed that the refinery was set to roll out its petrol in August 2024, having resolved its crude oil supply issues through the help of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Federal Government.
He stated these when he took senior journalists on a tour of the refinery and Dangote Fertilizer plants in Ibeji-Lekki, Lagos on Sunday.
“We plan to list the refinery and petrochemical before the end of the first quarter of next year, ” he stated.
He noted that the issue the refinery was having with international oil companies regarding the supply of crude was resolved last week.
The issue of crude has been settled last week. But we hope that the IOCs will respect it, ” he added.
Dangote also revealed that the Federal Government owned only a 7.2 per cent stake in the Dangote Refinery against the 20 per cent that was publicised.
“The Federal Government have only 7.2 per cent because it failed to pay for the balance for the 20 per cent stake
Recently, the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, had last week accused international oil companies in the country of plotting to frustrate the survival of the new Dangote refinery.
Edwin said the IOCs were deliberately and willfully frustrating the refinery’s efforts to buy local crude by hiking the cost above the market price by $6, thereby forcing the refinery to import crude from countries as far as the US, with its attendant high costs.
Edwin stated, “The IOCs are deliberately and willfully frustrating our efforts to buy the local crude.
“It seems that the IOCs’ objective is to ensure that our petroleum refinery fails. It is either they are deliberately asking for a ridiculous and humongous premium or they simply state that crude is not available.
At some point, we paid $6 over and above the market price. This has forced us to reduce our output as well as import crude from countries as far as the US, increasing our cost of production.
“It appears that the objective of the IOCs is to ensure that Nigeria remains a country, which exports crude oil and imports refined petroleum products. They are keen on exporting the raw materials to their home countries, creating employment and wealth for their countries, adding to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and dumping the expensive refined products into Nigeria, thus making us dependent on imported products.”