Nigerian businessman and industrialist, Aliko Dangote, has announced the date for the launch of the much-anticipated refinery in Lagos State.
This was disclosed in a letter of invitation circulating on social media. According to the letter, the inauguration will take place on May 22, 2023.
The oil refinery and petrochemical company with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day is expected to bring solutions to Nigeria’s perennial refining issues.
It would be recalled that the group chief branding and communications officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Anthony Chiejina, had in a statement debunked reports that the refinery was among the projects scheduled for inauguration by Buhari during his visit to Lagos in January.
“However, our refinery will be commissioned (sic) before President Muhammadu Buhari formally leaves office in May 2023, and the public will be duly informed and invited to the epic event,” the company reportedly said in the statement.
The Dangote refinery complex, which is located in the Lekki Free Zone area of Lagos, covers a land area of approximately 2,635 hectares, which is larger than the size of Victoria Island in Lagos.
The refinery is designed to process Nigerian crude and can also process other crudes. It is a multi-billion dollar project that will create a market for $21 billion per annum of Nigerian crude oil.
Upon completion, the refinery is projected to fulfill Nigeria’s entire demand for refined products, with an excess of each product available for export.