OTEDOLA HAILS DANGOTE AS REFINERY HITS FULL 650,000 BPD CAPACITY
Read Time:2 Minute, 16 Second
By Aishat Momoh. O.
Billionaire businessman and philanthropist, Femi Otedola, has congratulated President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, following the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s attainment of its full production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
The refinery’s management had earlier announced that it reached its full nameplate capacity after the restoration and optimisation of its Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and Motor Spirit (MS) production block. The company described the development as a global first for a single-train refinery of its scale.
In a statement on Wednesday, the firm disclosed that the milestone marks a critical phase in the ramp-up of Africa’s largest oil refining facility. It added that the refinery has commenced a 72-hour intensive performance test run in collaboration with its licensor, UOP, to validate operational stability, efficiency, and compliance with global standards.
According to the company, the achievement followed a scheduled maintenance exercise on the CDU and MS Block, after which both units were fully stabilised and optimised for steady-state operations.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, David Bird, said the seamless integration of the units demonstrates the refinery’s engineering depth and operational resilience.
Reacting via his verified X handle on Thursday, Otedola described the development as a landmark achievement for Dangote, Nigeria, and the African continent.
“I congratulate my friend and brother, @AlikoDangote, on the remarkable achievement of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery reaching its full 650,000 barrels per day capacity,” he wrote.
Otedola said the milestone goes beyond production figures, noting its transformative potential for Nigeria’s energy sector.
“More importantly, it is transformational for Nigeria and Africa. Supplying up to 75 million litres of PMS daily changes our energy narrative and conserves foreign exchange,” he stated.
He added that the commencement of large-scale domestic refining, after decades of dependence on imported petroleum products, is expected to ease pressure on the foreign exchange market.
“With domestic refining now firmly underway after decades of reliance on imports, pressure on the foreign exchange market should ease significantly,” Otedola said.
Expressing optimism about the impact on the national currency, he added, “I am optimistic that the naira will strengthen meaningfully, and trading below ₦1,000/$1 before year-end is increasingly within reach.”
Otedola further revealed that Dangote has initiated plans for additional expansion of the refinery.
“Aliko is not stopping here. He has embarked on an additional $12 billion expansion to increase refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day, alongside 2.4 million tons of polypropylene and 400,000 metric tons of Linear Alkyl Benzene for detergent production. Work has already commenced in earnest.
“Congratulations once again, my brother. Nigeria is proud of you,” he concluded.
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