Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, announced that his refinery is expanding its storage capacity by 600 million litres, bringing the total storage capacity to 5.3 billion litres.
Currently, the Dangote Petrochemical Refinery has a storage capacity of 4.78 billion litres for refined petroleum products.
Speaking at the Afreximbank Annual Meetings and AfriCaribbean Trade & Investment Forum in Nassau, The Bahamas, Dangote discussed the challenges and future prospects of his refinery.
When asked whether his refinery would reduce the current petrol pump price of around N700 per litre, Dangote did not give a definitive answer.
However, he cited the example of diesel prices dropping significantly from N1,700 to N1,200 after his refinery’s diesel entered the market. He explained:
“The issue of gasoline is certainly a different issue. That one is being dealt with by the government. But let me give you an example.
“In diesel, which the industries, transporters, and everybody consume; when we first started, it was N1,700, and the dollar conversion was about N1,200 then.
“Immediately when we started, within two weeks, we brought down the price to N1,000. We took it from N1,700 to N1,200, and from N1,200 to N1,700, we have given more than 60 per cent drop in price.
“With the currency now back up to about N1,500 per dollar, the price is still below N1,200. That’s a big improvement, from N1,700 to N1,200. And the diesel is available, we are not living from hand to mouth anymore.”
Dangote also emphasised the strategic importance of the refinery for Nigeria’s petroleum product reserves, highlighting the lack of strategic reserves for petrol in the country. He noted:
“The country doesn’t have strategic reserves in terms of petrol, which is very dangerous. But in our plant now, when you came, we had only 4.78 billion litres of various tankage capacity. But right now, we’re adding another 600 million.
“So effectively, as we go forward, the refinery will be the strategic reserve of the country in terms of petroleum products.”
Addressing the obstacles from international oil companies, Dangote stated:
“In a system where, for 35 years, people are used to counting good money, and all of a sudden, they see that the days of counting that money have come to an end, you don’t expect them to pray for you. Of course, you expect them to fight back.
“And I think that is the process that we’re now really going through. But the truth is that, yes, the country, the sub-region, and also the continent, of sub-Saharan Africa, need this refinery.
“So, you expect them to fight through non-supply of crude, non-purchase of the product, but I think it’s all temporary. We’ll get there.”
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