The refinery owned by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, will help bring about a major shift in Nigeria, which imports most of the fuel from abroad despite being the biggest producer of oil from the continent.
According to Bloomberg, Nigeria spends more than $23 billion a year importing petroleum products, and the new refinery would meet the needs of the local market, although there are still doubts about how quickly it will pump out oil production. the company in the market.
The delay in opening the refinery, scheduled for 2013, doubled the cost of the project, initially estimated at around $9 billion.
The refinery was inaugurated on Monday by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who will step down at the end of this month.
The Nigerian billionaire said the new oil refinery would enable Nigeria not only to meet domestic demand but also to become a major player in the African and global market.
He pointed out that the refinery will start operating before the end of next July, and will operate next to a fertilizer plant and operate in a power plant with a capacity of 435 megawatts.
He added that at least 40% of available petroleum products would be available for export, which would result in significant foreign exchange earnings for Nigeria. While some analysts believe that the capacity of the refinery could be limited.
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