The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it is perfecting plans to acquire a 20% minority equity stake in Dangote Refinery, Lagos.

This was disclosed by NNPC Chief Operating Officer, Refining and Petrochemicals, Mr Mustapha Yakubu, while speaking at the end of a 2-day Nigeria Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF), 2021, tagged: “Leveraging Opportunities and Synergies for Post Pandemic Recovery of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry.”

Yakubu, at the virtual event, said talks were already ongoing with the Dangote Group for the acquisition of the stake, adding that one of NNPC's divisions, the Greenfield Refining Projects Division was handling the negotiations with Dangote Refinery.

Why is the acquisition necessary?

If the acquisition pulls through, it will ensure undisrupted supply of petroleum products across the country. 

According to Yakubu: “At the moment, we have Dangote Refinery, which is the 650,000 barrels per day capacity, plus a mini 80,000 tonnes per annum petrochemical plant.

"What are we doing there? I can tell you today that we are seeking to have a 20 per cent minority stake in Dangote Refinery as part of our collaboration and you know that there’s a huge quantity of crude for that refinery.

"That’s 650,000 barrels, going into a single crude distillation unit (CDU). When that comes on board, it will also wet the nation for us.”

Yakubu also noted that the state oil giant is collaborating with African Refinery in Port Harcourt, a co-location facility, the CNCEC Chinese group, which is interested in building two refineries in Nigeria, the Waltersmith modular plant and Azikel refineries on condensate production.

About Dangote Refinery

Dangote refinery is a 650,000 barrels per day (BPD) integrated refinery and petrochemical project under construction in the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos, Nigeria.

It is owned by the Dangote Group and is expected to be Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility, upon completion.

The integrated refinery and petrochemical project which will meet 100% of Nigeria’s refined petroleum product requirement and even have a surplus for export when completed is expected to be completed in 2021 after some delays and will generate 9,500 direct and 25,000 indirect jobs.

The refinery is designed to produce up to 50 million litres of petrol and 15 million litres of diesel a day, roughly 10.4 million tonnes of the product, 4.6 million tonnes of diesel, and 4 million tonnes of jet fuel per year, in addition to having a fertiliser plant, which will utilise the refinery by-products as raw materials.