It was learnt yesterday that the orders for these equipment were made ahead of Government granting a Licence-To-Establish (LTE) a refinery which Dangote received only a few days ago.
The equipment ordered include ‘Long Lead Items’ and a power plant, which ordinarily would take between 18 and 21 months from time of order to time of delivery. It is anticipated that these advance orders may cut short the take-off time of the project. The Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Plant is scheduled to become operational in the third quarter of 2017 and would have the capacity to process 400,000 barrels of petroleum per day.
Nigeria currently consumes 40million litres per day of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol, the bulk of which is imported from Europe because the country’s four refineries are hardly functional much of the time.
The licence was issued to the company by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR ) and basic engineering work is expected to be completed in January next year. The next step would be detailed engineering work, which would involve structural, mechanical, civil and electrical aspects and procurement.
Commenting on the development, a stakeholder in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry who does not want his name mentioned, said it portends well. "It is a good development because I have always said that the private sector must be allowed to do the business of petroleum refining. However, some questions must be asked. What price is the company going to sell the products at? What price is the company going to buy the crude oil from government at?”
He added that if the company is going operate at the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) ,it would mean that it would sell the products at the going international price, which he said would end up higher than current pump price.
Credit: AITonline
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