Dangote Refinery aims for 500,000-barrel production capacity by July

Barring any last-minute change in plan, the $20bn Dangote Oil Refinery would be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange by December 2024.

The Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, maintained that as a new business, he would love to have Nigerians, Africans and other investors as shareholders in the refinery, stressing that he wants to allow them to join in making what he called a historic move.

The African richest man made this disclosure while speaking with the Africa Report in a video sighted by journalists.

“The listing, most likely, I won’t be surprised if we list (on the Nigerian Stock Exchange) by the end of this year. We will do that. You know it is new and I think we would like to allow Nigerians, Africans, and other investors to join in making this historic move,” he submitted.

An economy and capital market analyst, Rotimi Fakayejo, said the listing of the refinery would attract about N8tn market capitalisation on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

According to him, the refinery being listed would attract foreign portfolio investment to the country, giving the economy more foreign exchange

“The listing of any company is to distribute wealth and when individuals and corporate organisations buy into a company that is perceived to do well in the present and the future, then it increases the economic wealth and the well-being of the country,” Fakayejo stated.

Meanwhile, the Dangote Group chairman also disclosed that the refinery resorted to importing crude oil from the United States because Nigeria’s oil production figures keep fluctuating.

Dangote said the refinery could not wait for the Nigerian crude because the production goes up and down.

Dangote’s confirmation is coming at a time when the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, denied knowledge of Dangote refinery importing crude from the US.

It was earlier reported that the 650,000 barrels capacity refinery had agreed to import 24 million barrels of crude oil from the United States in the coming months.

The company had put out a tender for 2 million barrels of West Texas Intermediate Midland crude every month for a year, starting in July. This was due to the inability of the refinery to source feedstock locally as Nigeria battles low crude production and oil theft.

But while answering questions during a sectoral ministerial briefing last week, Lokpobiri, said the country is blessed with enough crude to supply to all the refineries in the country, including the modular ones, saying he was not aware Dangote was importing crude from America.

“I’m not aware that Dangote Refinery has started importing crude oil from the US. That’s the reason why we’re talking about an increase in production.

“That’s why we’re talking to servicing companies to come back and start drilling. The only way we can increase production is to continue drilling,” Lokpobiri stated.

However, Dangote, in the interview, noted that it makes economic sense to get crude elsewhere as the refinery ramps up production in the coming months.