After facing several delays, the Dangote Refinery, a colossal $19 billion project in Nigeria, is on the verge of commencing fuel production as the first crude shipment arrives at the facility. This development marks a significant milestone for the country’s oil industry.
According to industry sources and tanker tracking data reported by S&P Global, the OTIS tanker, carrying a cargo of 950,000 barrels of Nigeria’s Agbami crude, set sail on December 6 and is en route to Lekki, the nearest land port to Dangote’s offshore crude receiving terminal. The tanker is expected to arrive on December 7 around 8 pm, signifying the initiation of crude supplies for the refinery’s operations.
Despite the refinery’s official completion in May, the lack of domestic crude feedstock had hindered oil product manufacturing. To address this, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), which owns a 20% stake in the refinery, recently entered into an agreement to supply 6 million barrels of crude oil as feedstock to the Dangote refinery in December, aiming to kickstart operations.
Agbami, operated by Chevron, is a major deepwater development in Nigeria, with a daily output of approximately 100,000 b/d in the central Niger Delta. Known for its light sweet crude qualities, Agbami yields significant proportions of naphtha and kerosene, making it a valuable resource for the refinery’s operations.
