Published on 11/10/2024
Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote has said he wouldn’t have built his Oil Refinery, had he known? How difficult it is? To operate the facility and also manage the business’s oil politics.
Dangote who spoke to Bloomberg television on September 23rd reiterated his past remarks that oil industry has a mafia stronger than the illegal drug cartel. Dangote Oil Refinery in Nigeria’s, commercial City Lagos started operations in January 2024.
Today Dangote Oil Refinery refines diesel, petrol, Jeff fuel among other petroleum products. At full capacity itcan process up to 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day making, its Africa’s largest Refinery. 1 Barrel is equivalent to 159 liters of oil. Dangote said he envisioned solving Nigeria’s fuel demand when he set up the project at a cost of 20 billion US dollars.
Dangote Oil Refinery is largely financed through loans. However, along the line. He said he faced major hurdles including hardship in securing construction permit, despite applying for it in 2013.
Aliko Dangote cited a fight back by ‘Oil Cartels‘ opposed to his project, as well as regulator interferences as the other challenges
Dangote says, ”So, it took us really 5 years to start, just battling here and there after we had already taken loans of about 2.4 Billion US Dollars to Start and interest was counting. But then still you know we went ahead then. Again, the challenges of building that kind of project we realized that we had to build our own port.”
According to Dangote setting up the refinery was more of a monster task a reality that dawned on him after construction had begun.
Dangote says, ”telling you the truth It was a monster since when I keep telling people, if I knew how difficult it was sort of putting this kind of edifice, this kind of refinery, I wouldn’t have started it at all. But by the time, we realize that it was a very difficult thing, we had already started, So, we had no choice then to deliver.”
In recent times, Dangote made news headlines over his refineries dispute with Nigeria’s State oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
NNPC had alleged that Dangote Oil Refinery was selling substandard diesel, an allegation that Dangote denied saying the claim was malicious. Later NNPC declined to sell Dangote Oil refinery’s newly unveiled Petrol before making an about-turn on that stand.
NNPC said, it brought 1 liter of petrol from Dangote Oil Refinery at 898 Naira, an equivalent of 55 cents dollars.
Dangote whose net worth is 11.6 US billion says, ”even with the mafia traps, i will still deliver fuel Independence not only to Nigeria but also the rest of Africa.”
Dangote also repeatedly says, ”i have said this in my interview before, where I said that i never knew that the oil industry mafias are stronger than the Drug Cartel. I tell it’s a big cartel, i would say this anywhere, the issue that you are right? They can say okay, fine, you know, to make sure that this oil refinery doesn’t work, we’ll keep selling fuel Cheaper, but right now, they won’t be able to sell cheaper because they will not be able to take local currency.”
