Page 13 - DMEA Week 41 2022
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DMEA REFINING & FUELS DMEA
The policy is projected to cost $9.6bn this year, that it would be ready to support Abuja in phas-
according to Reuters. ing out the policy. According to David Malpass,
The subsidy aims to keep fuel prices low the World Bank’s president, Nigeria should
enough that the average Nigerian isn’t priced increase social assistance for the poor and vul-
out of driving a vehicle. But many observers, nerable and put a stop to the subsidies.
including experts from the World Bank and “President Malpass emphasized the impor-
other international financial institutions (IFIs), tance of integrating climate and development,
say the policy is having a serious negative impact as well as the need for an enabling policy and
on the economy. regulatory environment alongside strengthened
“[The] petrol subsidy has been a recurring institutions in the energy sector,” a World Bank
and controversial public policy issue in our statement said.
country since the early ‘80s,” Buhari said in his Nigeria’s government has actually committed
last budget speech before the election, which is to eliminating the domestic gasoline subsidy as
set to take place on February 25, 2023. “How- required by the terms of the Petroleum Industry
ever, its current fiscal impact has clearly shown Act (PIA), which was adopted in August 2021.
that the policy is unsustainable.” However, it has postponed the deadline for
In September, the World Bank told Nigeria doing so by at least 18 months.
Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery now
97% complete, NMDPRA chief says
AFRICA FAROUK Ahmed, chief executive of the Nige- taken a 20% equity stake in the plant and has the
rian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum right of first refusal with respect to supplying
Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), said on feedstock to the refinery for processing over a
October 12 that the Dangote Refinery was now period of 20 years. In practical terms, this means
97% complete, according to a report from This that NNPC Ltd has locked in long-term plans to
Day. sell oil to the plant at the rate of at least 33,000
Ahmed made an announcement to this effect bpd.
after meeting with representatives of the Dan- The Dangote Refinery is expected to begin
gote Group to discuss the 650,000-barrel per operating at an initial capacity of 560,000 bpd
day (bpd) oil-processing plant’s work plan for next year. The facility is being built by the Dan-
the 2022/2023 period. - gote Group, a privately-owned Nigerian indus-
He did not say whether the facility had trial conglomerate, in the Lekki Free Zone near
committed to any specific deadline for launch- Lagos.
ing testing or commercial operations, but he
stressed that NMDPRA would provide Dan-
gote Group with all the support it needed to
ensure that the plant was completed and came
on stream in a timely fashion.
He also stressed the future importance of
the refinery to the Nigerian fuel sector, saying
that the facility would play a significant role in
reducing the country’s dependence on imported
petroleum products. The plant will help meet
the rising demand for refined fuels while also
ensuring lower costs and foreign exchange sav-
ings, Ahmed stated.
The Dangote Refinery is set to be the largest
single-train refinery ever commissioned and
the largest oil-processing plant in Africa. The
plant will turn out gasoline and diesel that meet
Euro-5 emissions, as well as jet fuel and petro-
chemicals. It is expected to create 4,000 new jobs
directly and could create another 145,000 jobs
indirectly.
The cost of building the Dangote Refinery
has been estimated at $20bn. State-owned Nige-
rian National Petroleum Co. Ltd (NNPCL) has Dangote Refinery construction site (Photo: Twitter/@DangoteGroup)
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