Dangote refinery set to come on stream as licence is near ready

Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company is poised to get a licence to start preliminary work on its proposed petroleum refining project from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) as the agency is said to have concluded the evaluation of the necessary technical details on the first stage of the project.

According to sources close to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, it might take mere days for the company to get the licence, as what remains to be done is for DPR to pass its recommendation to the minister of petroleum resources’ table for approval.

The company is expected to be given a Licence-To-Establish (LTE) and as work progresses there would be further evaluation by the DPR team. Based on its evaluation another licence – Approval -To – Construct (ATC) could be issued. The last phase of the licence, the LTO which means Licence-To-Operate, would come after every structure has been put in place, including all the processing units.

The source told BusinessDay that the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company has scaled through all the technical details, acquired and cleared the site, basic engineering details submitted to DPR, paid the necessary monies to the government, and that technical documents are on the tables of relevant government agencies for approval.

With all these done, the source said that the company is expected to start construction work on the 400,000 barrels per day refinery and petrochemical company.

UOP, the oldest refining technology licensor in the world which supplies refinery licences across the globe is the architect of the technology being put in place, while Engineering India Limited (EIL) is the one doing the details engineering work of the refinery.
The Indian company was awarded a $139 million contract by the Dangote group.

Another industry source described the promoter of the company as a very patriotic Nigerian that really believes in the country. He said he is a shrewd businessman but he loves Nigeria and is really spending his money on the project for the benefit of the Nigerian people.

The construction of the refinery in the country would create jobs for 8,000 engineers.

The contract won by the state-owned Indian firm is for the provision of project Benin management consultancy (PMC) and engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for the Dangote refinery and polypropylene plant.

According to A K Purwaha, EIL chairman and managing director, under the agreement, EIL will provide project PMC and EPCM services for implementing a grassroots 400,000 barrels per day (20 million tons) refinery and 600,000 tons a year polypropylene plant.