Nigeria receives its first oil shipment

The 19 billion dollar single-train oil refinery, built in the country's commercial city of Lagos by Nigeria's richest businessman Aliko Dangote, has received its first cargo of 1 million barrels of crude oil from Shell.

Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote stated in a press release that the 1 million barrel crude oil cargo is the first of 6 million barrels that will enable the refinery's initial operations.

Expressing his great pleasure in reaching this important milestone with the first shipment received, Dangote noted the following:

"This is an important achievement for our country in terms of demonstrating our ability to develop and deliver large capital projects. Our focus in the coming months will be to bring the refinery to its full capacity. I look forward to the next important milestone, where we will deliver the first batch of products to the Nigerian market."

THE LARGEST OIL REFINERY

Launched in 2017 and opened in June 2023, Africa's largest oil refinery is located in the Lekki area of Nigeria's Lagos state, off the Atlantic Ocean, and the facility is expected to process 350 thousand barrels of crude oil per day.

When the refinery operates at full capacity, it will be able to meet 100 percent of Nigeria's refined product needs and will also be able to provide more products for export.

Although Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer, it imports almost all of its fuel due to an insufficient number of refineries.

The government hopes that the newly opened refinery will transform the country from an importer of refined fuel to an exporter and provide employment for tens of thousands of people.