As Nigerians contend with fuel scarcity and rising cost of the product at the pump, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has said it is preparing for a massive rollout of premium motor spirit (PMS) product
Dropping this big news, Vice President, Oil & Gas, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Devakumar Edwin said the refinery will address the challenges bedevilling
He made this disclosure during a visit of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, who also commended the President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, for hiring and nurturing highly-skilled Nigerian engineers and declared that engineering is alive in Nigeria, from the workforce to the construction at the Dangote Refinery complex.
Speaking in an interactive session, the 34th and first female President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Margaret Oguntala, described Dangote refinery as “mind-blowing”.
She stated that the refinery project from construction to employment, gives her hope and assurance that young Nigerian engineers are ready to compete globally.
“I was awed to see the state-of-the-art facility at the Dangote Refinery; what I see here today will blow the mind of any engineer; it is just like the movies. I was an intern at the Port Harcourt Refinery and I also visited the Kaduna Refinery, it is nothing compared to what I see here.
“The young engineer that took us around showed capacity and we are happy that you are building the future of engineers. We at the NSE are behind you, we shall take this home and let the world know that engineering is alive at the Dangote Refinery,” she added.
Speaking on behalf of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, Prof. Azikwe Peter Onwualu stated that the engineers have seen “something good and Nigerians need to know about it.”
According to Prof. Onwualu “We are happy some of our fellows are part of your system. We would like to remind the President of the Dangote Group, Mr. Aliko Dangote, that if you are not doing something great you will not be criticised. Whatever you are doing, keep it up. If we have this kind of development across Nigeria, people won’t be talking about protests. Keep doing what you are doing and you will hear from us.”
Responding to questions, the Group Vice President, Oil and Gas, Mr. Edwin, played down talks around the monopoly tag, stating that someone has to start a project before others follow.
“Nigeria was one of the largest importers of cement, then we started manufacturing cement and then we became exporters, same thing applies to sugar, salt and now fertiliser. This breakthrough opened the doors for other investors in those industries and Nigeria is better for it.
“What motivates Mr. Dangote is his sheer interest in the Nigerian project. It is true, we are in business to make money but the question is where is the money going to? Every money Dangote is making goes back to the Nigeria economy, from cement to salt, sugar, fertiliser.
“The business strategy of the Dangote Refinery is to minimise the energy cost and the overall cost of production; build the most environmentally friendly; maximise value addition; maximise gasoline which is in high demand with about 55 per cent of the production capacity compared to 22 per cent of the existing refineries in Nigeria; strategically located marine infrastructure for crude receipt and product evacuation; state-of-the-art technology; produce Euro V products; provide crude flexibility and create market of $21 billion per annum of Nigerian crude,” Mr. Edwin added.
