A $9 billion refinery is said to be commissioned in Nigeria by 2020, the refinery according to Hydrocarbon Technology will have an annual refining capacity of 10.4 million tonnes of gasoline, 4.6 million tonnes of diesel and 4 million tonnes of Jet fuel, 0.69 million tonnes of polypropylene, 0.24 million tonnes of propane, 32,000 tonnes of sulfur and 0.5 million tonnes of carbon black feed. The massive structure is expected to cost the richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote, between $12 billion and $14 billion dollars. The refinery is located strategically close to the sea to permit product transportation at the Lekki free trade zone, Lagos, Nigeria.
The refinery provides a huge boost for the midstream sector of the Nigeria oil and gas industry. The refinery is expected to contribute significantly to the domestic demand for the petroleum process thus reducing Nigeria’s import of refined products; the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachichwu asserted “that should be enough to meet local needs”. Though there has been an argument on the feasibility of the refinery commencing operation by 2020, however, the project manager Devakumar Edwin in August 2018 argued “ninety-five percent of the engineering has been completed, 90 percent procurement has been completed”. He further stressed that the refinery will be completed in 2019 and commences operation by 2020.
