The largest oil refinery in Africa was established in Nigeria
Africa's largest oil refinery has opened in Nigeria, with hopes of easing chronic fuel shortages.
Nigeria is a major producer of oil, but most of it is exported to other countries where it willimport refined oil that is used in cars and other places. As a result, the country often experiences chronic fuel shortages.
That's the problem the $19billion (£15.2billion) factory, owned by Africa'srichest man, Aliko Dangote, is meant to do. President Muhammadu Buhari said, “Thisis a game changer for Nigerians.
The company, which is not yet operational, has the capacity to produce about 650,000 barrels of petroleum products per day - more than enough to meet the country's needs. It also includes power plants, deep sea portsand fertilizer plants.
Refineries in Nigeria have been shut down for over three years due to oil theft, pipeline vandalism and construction negligence. If it works as planned, the company can make a real difference in the lives of Nigerians: "Whenever there is a shortage of fuel, I don't open my shop because there is no electricity [ electricity] is working and I can 'buy fuel for my generator,'” a young hairdresser in Lagos told the BBC.
At the beginning of Monday, Mr. Dangote expressed his hope for the hot industry: "Ourfirst objective is to increase theproduction of various products to ensure that this year, we will be able to fully meet meet the national demand for the product.
However, the impact of the company on the price of fuel in the country where the market is financed is not fixed. The government said that these subsidies will soon be removed - last year, they raised at least a quarter of the country's budget.
Mr Dangote's factory in Lagos, which took almost seven years to build, is said to be the largest distillery in the world, meaning the company has an integrated distillery system of can produce different products and petrochemicals, instead of having different types. units for each type of product. It is one of the last major projects to be undertaken by President Buhari, who will step down next week after two terms in office.
President Buhari will hand overpower to Bola Tinubu, who won a controversial presidential election in February. Oil and gas expert Henry Adigun told the BBC that Monday's release was "more political than technical".
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