… Pays Initial $1bn For Stake
ABUJA
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd has paid an initial amount of $1bn for its stake in Dangote Oil Refining Company.
The payment, which was confirmed by a top official of the NNPC on Sunday in Abuja, effectively secures the NNPC’s 20 per cent ownership of Dangote Refinery.
The NNPC, last year, reached a deal with Dangote Oil Refining Ltd valued at $2.76bn to acquire 20 per cent ordinary shares of 200,000 units put of the 1,000,000 total units in DangoteOil.
Dangote Refinery is a 650,000 barrels per day integrated refinery and petrochemical project under construction in the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos.
It is owned by the Dangote Group and is expected to be Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility, upon completion.
The integrated refinery and petrochemical project, which will meet 100 per cent of Nigeria’s refined petroleum product requirement and even have a surplus for export when completed, is expected to be completed in 2023 after some delays and will generate 9,500 direct and 25,000 indirect jobs.
It is designed to produce up to 50 million litresof petrol and 15 million litres of diesel a day, roughly 10.4 million tonnes of the product, 4.6 million tonnes of diesel, and 4 million tonnes of jet fuel per year, in addition to having a fertiliserplant, which will utilise the refinery by-products as raw materials.
There had been reports that the NNPC had not paid for its stake in the company.
But speaking on the development, the top official said the sum of $1bn had been paid, adding that the payment of the balance was subject to the start-up of the plant and tied to crude oil supply by the NNPC to the company.
The official described the deal as an ingenious one as it will lock the market for the country’s crude oil.
The Group Managing Director of NNPC Ltd, Mr. Mele Kyari, had recently said that the decision to invest in Dangote Oil Refining Company will guarantee energy security for the country.
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