In a significant milestone for Nigeria’s oil industry, the Dangote refinery is set to receive its first major crude oil shipment today. The OTIS tanker, laden with a substantial 950,000 barrels of Agbami crude oil, is currently on its way to Lekki, Nigeria, marking a notable commencement of operations for the refinery.
Scheduled to dock at approximately 1900 GMT (8 pm Nigerian time), this delivery signifies the first substantial crude supply to Dangote’s offshore crude receiving facility. The Suezmax tanker, which set sail on December 6 under the charter of NNPCL, is tracked by S&P Global MINT and is headed for Lekki, the closest accessible land port to the Dangote refinery.
This inaugural shipment heralds the operational start of the Dangote refinery, a key addition to Nigeria’s oil refining infrastructure.
As per S&P, the OTIS tanker embarked with its cargo of Nigeria’s Agbami crude on December 6, making its way towards Lekki. Agbami, operated by Chevron, is among Nigeria’s largest deepwater ventures, producing about 100,000 barrels per day in the central Niger Delta. Agbami’s light sweet crude is notable for its high naphtha and kerosene yield, with a gravity of 47.9 API and low sulfur content.
NNPCL has arranged for additional tankers to transport more crude from Nigerian offshore fields to the refinery later in the month.
Previous reports by Nairametrics on November 2 stated that NNPCL plans to supply the 650,000 barrels per day capacity Dangote oil refinery with up to six crude oil shipments in December for testing. The report highlighted that six shipments amounting to 200,000 barrels per day are scheduled for December as part of a year-long agreement. Subsequent months’ volumes will be decided based on mutual agreement and availability. There were also mentions of 4-5 cargo shipments, roughly equivalent to at least 130,000 barrels per day.
The refinery had experienced several delays after its initial commissioning earlier this year. Dangote Group CEO, Devakumar Edwin, had previously set deadlines for diesel and aviation fuel refining, which were missed, as reported in a September 2023 interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights.
On November 26, Aliko Dangote confirmed the refinery’s operational commencement in December 2023. Starting with an initial capacity of 350,000 barrels a day, Dangote also noted that an agreement had been reached for the first delivery of about 6 million barrels of crude in December 2023.
Source: nairametrics.com