Hope of Nigeria having functional refinery and stop to be net importer of refined petroleum products has been boosted as the multi billion dollar Dangota Oil Refinery Limited has taken delivery of one of the major components of its refinery equipment; the regenerator for the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker.
Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the most important conversion processes used in petroleum refineries. It is widely used to convert the high-boiling, high-molecular weight hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum crude oils into more valuable gasoline, olefinic gases, and other products.
Sources said the company has commenced the installation of equipment for the 650,000 barrels-per-day crude oil refinery being built in the Lekki area of Lagos.
The refinery has continued to receive heavy equipment, through the Dangote jetty, located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone.
When the installations are completed the country would ceased to be net importer of refined petroleum products. The 450,000 barrels per day capacities refineries belonging to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu said that subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, stood at over N1.4 trillion as at September 2018, but industry watchers are of the view that subsidy may have reached about N1.7 trillion for the whole of the year 2018.
The amount spent on fuel import in the nine-month period was about 28.3 per cent of Nigeria’s N9.12 trillion budgets for the 2018 fiscal year.
According to data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Foreign Trade Statistics for the Third Quarter of 2018, Nigeria’s fuel import stood at N845.12 billion, N720.4 billion for the first and second quarters of 2018 respectively.
However, in the third quarter of 2018, the report noted that fuel import rose sharply by 41.03 per cent from N720.4 billion recorded in the second quarter to N1.016 trillion in the third quarter of 2018.
It would be recalled that the jetty, constructed by Dangote Oil Refinery received its first ship of 132 metres long, 9,755 tonnes general cargo ship, last year to deliver essential equipment for the ongoing construction.
The refinery is being designed to accommodate multiple grades of domestic and foreign crude and process these into high-quality gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation fuels that meet Euro V emissions specifications, plus polypropylene.
It will include a crude distillation unit, single-train residual fluid catalytic cracking unit, diesel hydro-treating unit, continuous catalyst regeneration unit, alkylation unit, and a polypropylene unit. The refinery will also be able to adjust its production of different products to match market demands.
Rama Putta, Head of Quality Assurance/Quality Compliance and Construction, DORC, said the sand filling of the site has been completed, adding that 60 per cent of the land was swampy.
“…The refinery equipment are coming in semi-finished shape and we will finish them off here at the sight. The remaining are being manufactured in various countries, including China, India, America, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.”
Devakumar Edwin, executive director, Dangote Group, said the 650,000 barrel per day refinery would stimulate economic development in Nigeria.
He said the refinery was designed to process a variety of light and medium grades of crude and produce extremely clean fuels that meet Euro V specification.
The Dangote boss said usually, the sulphur in petroleum fuels results in vehicle exhaust emissions that have negative impact on health and environment, adding that the Dangote plant has invested in most advanced technology to produce Euro V fuel due to help Nigeria meet the European Standard of gasoline.
He said the project would provide thousands of direct and indirect jobs and add value to the Nigeria’s economic development, noting that the refinery will lead to significant skills transfer and technology acquisition opportunities in the country.
Olusola Bello
