Dangote Refinery Receives Inaugural Crude Oil Shipment

Dangote Refinery Receives Inaugural Crude Oil Shipment....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The inaugural crude shipment for Dangote’s 650,000 b/d refinery has reached the country, marking a significant step towards commencing fuel production at the $19 billion facility, as reported by SP Global citing market sources and tanker tracking data.

The OTIS tanker delivered a 950,000 barrel cargo of Agbami crude on Dec. 6, and it was discharged at the refinery’s terminal on Thursday. The Suezmax tanker, chartered by the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company, represents Dangote’s initial crude supplies as the massive new plant starts its operational ramp-up, according to a West African oil trader.

Although the privately-owned refinery was officially completed in May, it has yet to produce any oil products due to a lack of domestic crude feedstock. Recently, NNPC, which holds a 20 per cent stake in the refinery, agreed to supply 6 million barrels of crude oil as feedstock to the refinery in December.

Agbami, operated by Chevron, is one of Nigeria’s largest deepwater developments, pumping about 100,000 b/d in the central Niger Delta. Known for producing light sweet crude with a gravity of 47.9 API and a sulfur content of 0.04 per cent, Agbami is recognized in the market for yielding a significant proportion of naphtha and kerosene. NNPC has chartered several other tankers to transport additional crude shipments from offshore fields to the refinery later this month.

The startup of the refinery has faced repeated delays since its unveiling in 2013, although most key units were installed in 2019. The crude distillation unit, designed to process 12 crudes simultaneously, has been engineered to handle three Nigerian crude grades—Escravos, Bonny Light, and Forcados. Once fully operational, the plant is expected to produce 327,000 b/d of gasoline, 244,000 b/d of gasoil/diesel, 56,000 b/d of jet fuel/kerosene, along with 290,000 mt/year of propane/LPG, according to previous Dangote presentations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Source: Bushradiogist