Dangote Group has announced that petroleum products from its 650,000 per day refinery under construction will hit the market by the last quarter of next year.
Also, products from its completed fertiliser plant will be in the market this month.
The Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects and Portfolio Development, Dangote Group, Devakumar Edwin, told journalists said that the refinery has reached 80 per cent completion, adding that engineering and construction were 100 per cent over while procurement was 98 per cent ready.
He said: “If you look at the overall percentage completion we are at 80 per cent. But that overall includes engineering and design, which is 100 per cent over. Procurement is about 98 per cent over. So, it covers various aspects. But the core activity which is going on today is construction.
“So, if you look at exclusively construction, we have finished 60 per cent of construction.
But overall, it is 80 at per cent level. The progress is going reasonably well.
“We had the impact of coronavirus because many of the countries where our equipment are being manufactured were affected.
“So, now, we hope to complete everything – all the assembling by the middle of next year. Then, we will start the commissioning process. Middle of next year, we start the commissioning process, and it’s a huge refinery, the commissioning process may take three to four months.
“And then with start of products coming into the market. So, by last quarter next year, we should have our products coming into the market.”
On the impact of the refinery on the price of petrol in the country, he said the basic economic principle of demand and supply would determine that.
Edwin explained that the increase in refining capacity in the country resulting in the rise in supply of petroleum products will bring the price down as was the case in the cement subsector in the country.
“This is a basic economic principle: demand and supply. When the demand exceeds supply, the price will go up. When the supply exceeds demand, the price will come down.”