Dangote Refinery Shifts Petrol Supply to Third Week in July

Goddy Egene

The President and Chief Executive Officer  Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals,  Alhaji Aliko Dangote  said  the refinery will begin supply of  Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol in  third week in July instead of  June earlier envisaged.

Dangote  attributed the postponement to slight delay but assured the public that by second or  third week in July, the premium commodity would be in the market.

Dangote spoke when he received a Senate delegation led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, on a tour of the $20 billion facility in Lagos on Sunday.

He said: “We had a bit of delay but PMS will start coming out by 10th, 15th of July but then we want to keep in the tank to make it to settles. By third week of July, we will be able to sell it in the market.”

However,  Akpabio referred to the refinery as the night  wonder of the world and commended the Africa’s richest man for the refinery project.

According to him, the refinery’s success stands in contrast to the challenges faced by government-run refineries in Nigeria.

Akpabio said: “The whole Nigeria couldn’t make refineries function in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Warri, but that Dangote and his team have proven that it is possible to dream and achieve it in Nigeria.”

“The inability of the nation to refine its oil has brought untold hardship on Nigerians so much so that the Belgian government recently banned the exportation of dirty and condemned fuel to the West African country just because we can’t refine our own products.”

The senate president expressed confidence in the refinery’s potential to alleviate the country’s reliance on imported refined products and to serve as a catalyst for economic growth. He also mentioned its role in job creation and its contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Akpabio, who was joined by Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, and other senators, said that the National Assembly would come up with a robust legislation that would protect the project and others like it.

“Mr. Dangote, I pity you a lot because even your friends will envy you simply because they will keep wondering how can you succeed when nations, and continents have failed? Now that we have seen for ourselves, we are here to announce our own endorsement of this major project. It is also shocking to see that we produce sufficient fertilisers for Nigeria and enough to be exported.

“As I said we will do our report and we will speak to Mr President to put a stop to fertisliser import to Nigeria. You will hear from us soon,” he said.

Also speaking, the Governor of Lagos State,  Babajide Sanwo-Olu,  acknowledged the project’s impact on the state and the nation, expressing optimism for Nigeria’s economic prospects.

He said: “Dangote has put Lagos State and the whole of Nigeria on the world map of excellence. I am happy the senate came to see for themselves; Dangote was not ready to rest after successfully building the largest cement factory chain in Africa, second largest sugar refinery in the world.

“With investment like this, I can assure you that we are on the right path to meet the projected GDP of $1trn by 2030. You have the key to city, I have given you long time ago and I am happy you are using it very well,” Sanwo-Olu stated.