President Buhari would be joined at the epoch making event by his counterparts from Ghana, Togo, Senegal, Niger, and Chad.
Presidents of Togo, Gnassingbé Eyadéma; Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo; President of Senegal, Macky Sall; President of Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum, President of Chad, Mahamat Déby and a host of ambassadors have confirmed their attendance. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who will not be physically present, will be presenting his goodwill message virtually.
Nigeria’s President-Elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose administration as the governor of Lagos in 2002 floated the Free Trade Zone in Ibeju-Lekki where the Refinery is located, will grace the historic event.
Also, all the 36 state governors and governors-elect, ministers, senators, and captains of industries in Nigeria, global oil traders, top international bankers, international multilateral agencies are expected at the event.
According to a Twitter statement by Dangote Group, the refinery will be refining Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, diesel (AGO), aviation jet fuel and Dual-Purpose Kerosene (DPK), among other refined products.
Promoted by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, the massive refinery located in Dangote Industries Free Zone in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, will provide employment to over 100,000 persons. The coming on stream of the gigantic project is expected to mark Nigeria’s exit from the league of oil rich nations but which are heavy importers of the petroleum products.
The CEO Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, Sanjay Gupta, stated that “everything in this plant by way of size is the first. It is the largest single-train refinery in the world.
He added: “There is no single column which can process 650,000 barrels per day anywhere else.”
The commissioning of Dangote Petroleum Refinery is significant given that it is the first time that a refinery of such magnitude built by an individual is being commissioned.
According to a fact sheet, Dangote’s petroleum refinery is expected to meet the needs of Nigerian consumers and those in neighbouring countries, while allowing for exports beyond the African continent. The refinery will drive the promotion of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as over 50 countries in the trade bloc depend on imported refined petroleum products. The fact sheet also revealed that the new Refinery can meet 100% of the Nigerian requirement of all refined products (Gasoline, 53 million litres per day; Diesel, 34 million litres per day; Kerosene, 10 million litres per day, and Aviation Jet, 2 million litres per day) and also have surplus of each of these products for export.
Below are 19 facts about the Dangote Refinery:
● It is located in Ibeju, Lagos, Covering a land area of approximately 2,635 hectares.
●World’s Largest Single-Train 650,000 barrels per day Petroleum Refinery with 900 KTPA Polypropylene Plant.
●The Refinery is powered by a 435 MW Power Plant.
● At full capacity, it can meet 100% of the Nigerian requirement of all refined products and also have surplus for export.
● Designed for 100% Nigerian Crude with flexibility to process other crudes.
●Self-sufficient marine facility with ability for freight optimisation. Largest single order of 5 SPMs anywhere in the world.
● Diesel & gasoline from the refinery will conform to Euro V specifications.
● The refinery design complies with World Bank, US EPA, European emission norms and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) emission/effluent norms.
● It incorporates state-of-the-art technology.
● It is designed to process large variety of crudes including many of the African Crudes, some of the Middle Eastern Crudes and the US Light Tight Oil.
● About 65 million cubic metres of sand dredged, costing approximately €300 million, using the world’s largest dredgers.
● Over 1,200 units of various equipment were bought to enhance the local capacity for site works.
● Dangote Group bought 332 cranes to build up equipment installation capacity.
● Also built is the world’s largest granite quarry to supply coarse aggregate, stone column material, stone base, stone dust & material for break water (10 million tonnes per year production capacity).
● In a bid to bring over dimensional cargoes close to the site directly, Dangote Group had to developed a port and constructed two quays with a load bearing capacity of 25 tonnes/sq metre.
● Constructed two more quays in the port with a capacity to handle up to Panamax vessels to export, two quays to handle liquid cargoes.
● The port will have 6 quays, including a roll-on/roll-off quay.
● In the course of the civil works, 700 piles were drilled on some days, with total number of piles up to 250,000.
● It has 177 tanks of 4.742 billion litres capacity
● Dangote is one of the few companies in the world executing a Petroleum Refinery and a Petrochemical complex directly as an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) Contractor.
● Training of 900 young engineers in refinery operations abroad. Mechanical Engineers trained in the GE University in Italy. Process engineers trained by Honeywell/UOP for six months.