L-R: Femi Otedola, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu; President/CE, Dangote Industrie Limited, Aliko Dangote; and Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects & Portfolio Development, Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, during the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources working visit to Dangote Oil Refinery, Petrochemical and Fertilizer Projects in Lekki, Lagos on Monday, July 31, 2017. Photo: Business Hilights
…SPEs summit begins today in Lagos
As the Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos is set to host the 2018 annual summit of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPEs) from today, Monday, August 6, 2018, the true colours of owners of petroleum refineries in European countries are gradually emerging as it become clear that Dangote refinery will come on stream next year to technically push them out of African orders.
Otherwise, Europeans’ grief stem from the reality of running out of business as Nigeria and some African countries have lined up to take deliveries of petroleum products from the Lekki plant thereby cutting off further purchase from the European plants.
Speaking at the just concluded S&P Global Platts Lagos Oil & Energy Forum, the Editorial Director, Strategic Oil Markets Development, S&P Global Platts, Andrew Bonnington, said “The crude oil refinery being built in Lagos by Dangote Industries Limited is a threat to refineries in Europe, which Nigeria relies mostly on for fuel imports”.
According to him, “In Africa, the Dangote refinery is a huge story; one of the biggest refineries in the world being built in Nigeria, likely to supply most of or all of Nigeria’s consumption. That clearly has an impact on European refineries, because they export to Nigeria.
“It is impossible for me to say exactly what the impact will be, but it is not a good thing for European refineries that Dangote refinery is being built.”
While recalling that Europe remains the biggest supplier of petroleum products to Nigeria and neighbouring nations, about 75 per cent of petrol consumed in the country imported from EU.
Business Hilights recalls that Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has reached advanced stage in the delivery of a multipurpose 650,000 barrels per day refinery capacity to help reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products.
In one of his briefings on the facility, the 66th most influential person in the world averred that “We will end up spending between $12bn and $14bn. The funding is going to come through equity, commercial bank loans, export credit agencies and developmental banks. Hopefully, we will finish mechanical (construction) by next year and products will start coming out in the first quarter of 2020”.
