The refinery relayed that this achievement represents a milestone that no other single-train refinery globally, of its size, has ever hit, following the successful restoration and optimization of its Crude Distillation Unit and Motor Spirit production block.
A 72-hour intensive performance test run in collaboration with its licensor, UOP, is set to commence to validate operational stability, efficiency, and adherence to international standards, per a statement released by the company.
This step follows a planned maintenance exercise on the Crude Distillation Unit and MS Block, as seen in the Punch.
“Our teams have demonstrated exceptional precision and expertise in stabilising both the CDU and MS Block, and we are pleased to see them functioning at optimal efficiency,” David Bird, the Managing Director of the refinery, stated.
“This milestone underscores the strength, reliability, and engineering quality that define our operations.
We remain committed to producing high-quality refined products that will transform Nigeria’s energy landscape, eliminate import dependence, and position the nation as a net exporter of petroleum products,” he added.
The managing director went on to elaborate that the CDU is a refinery’s main processing unit, separating crude oil into different fractions, while the MS Block, which consists of the naphtha hydrotreater, isomerization unit, and reformer unit, upgrades intermediate streams into components of high-octane gasoline blends.
The managing director also disclosed that the refinery’s remaining processing units would start their own Phase 2 performance test runs in the coming week, indicating the completion of technical validation throughout the integrated complex.
Dangote’s oil production objective
Since its inauguration, the Dangote Refinery has hastened its pace in ensuring that the refinery runs at full capacity.
Subsequently, the refinery revealed its intentions to not only run at full capacity but also boost said capacity.
Last year, in July, the $20 billion refinery revealed that it was undergoing a strategic upgrade to expand its production capacity from 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 700,000 bpd by the end of 2025.
This would have made the Dangote Refinery the 6th largest refinery in the world after South Korea’s Onsan Refinery, which at the time held the rank with a capacity of 669,000 bpd.
By August of the same year, the global energy and commodity agency, Argus, reported that the refinery’s production capacity had increased to approximately 610,000 barrels per day.
Two months later, Aliko Dangote, Chief of the Dangote Group, announced intentions to increase oil production capacity at the refinery from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day during an interview with S&P Global.
“We have to build the refinery again, either here or somewhere else.
But really, somewhere else is not possible because we’d have to go and spend so much building infrastructure, and we have the infrastructure already here,” Dangote stated.
