Billionaire businessman and philanthropist, Femi Otedola, has congratulated the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, following the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s attainment of its full production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
Naijaonpoint reports that the refinery’s management earlier announced that the facility reached its full nameplate capacity after restoring and optimising its Crude Distillation Unit and Motor Spirit production block, describing the feat as a global first for a single-train refinery of its size.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the company said the milestone marked a critical phase in the ramp-up of Africa’s largest oil refining facility.
It added that the refinery had commenced a 72-hour intensive performance test run in collaboration with its licensor, UOP, to validate operational stability, efficiency and compliance with global standards.
According to the statement, the development followed a scheduled maintenance exercise on the Crude Distillation Unit and MS Block, after which both units were stabilised and optimised for steady-state operations.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, David Bird, said the seamless integration of the units reflected the refinery’s engineering depth and operational resilience.
Reacting in a statement shared via his verified 𝕏 handle on Thursday, Otedola described the development as a landmark achievement not only for Dangote but for Nigeria and the African continent.
“I congratulate my friend and brother, @AlikoDangote, on the remarkable achievement of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery reaching its full 650,000 barrels per day capacity,” he wrote.
Otedola noted that the significance of the refinery went beyond production figures, stressing its potential to reshape Nigeria’s energy outlook.
“More importantly, it is transformational for Nigeria and Africa. Supplying up to 75 million litres of PMS daily changes our energy narrative and conserves foreign exchange,” he stated.
Impact On Forex, Naira
Otedola added that the commencement of large-scale domestic refining after decades of dependence on imported petroleum products would ease pressure on Nigeria’s foreign exchange market.
“With domestic refining now firmly underway after decades of reliance on imports, pressure on the foreign exchange market should ease significantly,” Otedola said.
Expressing optimism about the impact on the national currency, he added, “I am optimistic that the naira will strengthen meaningfully, and trading below ₦1,000/$1 before year-end is increasingly within reach.”
Otedola also revealed that Dangote had begun plans for further expansion of the refinery’s capacity.
“Aliko is not stopping here. He has embarked on an additional $12bn expansion to increase refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day, alongside 2.4 million tons of polypropylene and 400,000 metric tons of Linear Alkyl Benzene for detergent production. Work has already commenced in earnest.
“Congratulations once again, my brother. Nigeria is proud of you,” he concluded.