Page 13 - DMEA Week 07 2021

DMEA REFINING DMEA

Dangote Group delays

opening of refinery

NIGERIA NIGERIA’S Dangote Group has pushed the tar- of the movement restrictions, the shipping got
get date for opening its new 650,000 barrel per delayed and the construction engineers also got
The Dangote Group’s day (bpd) oil refinery back from the fourth quar- restricted,” Edwin explained.
650,000 bpd refinery ter of 2021 to early 2022. Despite these mishaps, work on the plant is
will come on stream in Devakumar Edwin, the group’s executive still moving forward, he added. “[We] have gone
2022. director of capital projects and portfolio man- far ahead with the construction schedule, and
agement, confirmed the delay in an interview by the end of this year, we will have mechanical
with Arise TV last week, saying that the plant completion and we start the commissioning by
would begin delivering petroleum products to December [of] this year. So we expect the prod-
the local market early next year. He attributed the ucts to start coming out early next year,” he said.
change in schedule to the coronavirus (COVID- Dangote Group had said last November that
19) pandemic, saying that public health policies it still expected to bring the refinery on stream
restricting travel and transport had caused prob- before the end of 2021. At that time, it stated that
lems in 2020. work on the facility was about 80% complete.
“We had hoped to complete [the refinery] at The Nigerian company is building the Dan-
the end of last year and start the commission- gote refinery in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos
ing early this year, but ... COVID-19 had a major at a cost of around $15bn. When finished, the
impact on us. We are receiving goods manufac- plant will be the largest oil-processing facility in
tured in the US, Europe, China and India and ... the country and the largest single-train refinery
[all] four countries were affected by COVID, so in the world. It is expected to double Nigeria’s
our equipment deals got delayed. And because fuel production capacity. ™

BUA Group sees Akwa Ibom refinery

finished in 2024

NIGERIA NIGERIA’S BUA Group has revealed that it for the construction contract than it might have
expects to complete a refinery construction pro- demanded at a time of stronger global energy
Abdul Samad Rabiu, ject in Akwa Ibom State in 2024. demand.
the head of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, the executive chairman “[Low] crude prices due to low demand
signed an agreement of the group, said last week that BUA intended arising from the coronavirus [COVID-19] pan-
with Axens CEO to hold a ground-breaking ceremony in May demic [offer] us [a] huge opportunity to invest
Jean Sentenac last to mark the start of construction work on the in projects that would help us conserve more
September. 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) oil plant. The refin- funds, leveraging the low-cost technology being
ery will then be ready to launch commercial pro- deployed by Axens of France,” Rabiu was quoted
duction in 2024, he stated. as saying by The Sun.
He noted that the plant would be outfitted He went on to say that the refinery project
with extensive marine infrastructure in order to would benefit Nigeria by reducing dependence
facilitate deliveries of feedstock and loadings of on imported petroleum products. “Nigeria con-
refined fuels. These facilities will be built at the sumes over 50mn litres of fuel daily, and over
same time as the plant and will support efforts [90mn litres] of that is imported, with about 35%
to supply petroleum products from the refinery of the country’s scarce foreign currency spent on
to local markets and nearby countries, he said. imported products,” he noted.
BUA Group has already chosen a contractor Under these conditions, he said, BUA Group
to build the refinery, he added, referring to an sees the refinery project as a “no-brainer” and
agreement signed last September with Axens eminently feasible. Local and regional demand
(France). He described that deal as advanta- for petroleum products is strong enough to jus-
geous for his company, saying that the French tify the construction of an oil-processing plant of
company had been willing to accept less money this size, he said. ™

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