The 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery has begun the processing of petrol, an official has said.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) would buy its products exclusively, Reuters reported Monday, quoting an official of the company.
We are testing the product (petrol), and subsequently, it will start flowing into the product tanks,” Devakumar Edwin, a vice president at Dangote Industries Limited, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Mr Edwin did not say exactly when the product would hit the local market.
If no one is buying it, we will export it as we have been exporting our aviation jet fuel and diesel,” Mr Edwin said.

The recent development could ease NNPC Ltd’s struggle to supply the local market and help address the fuel scarcity that has hit major cities across Nigeria in recent months.

The company’s Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, confirming the development in a short response to PREMIUM TIMES on Monday evening, said, “Yes, it’s true we have commenced processing.”

In recent months, the company had set dates for its domestic petrol supply, but the timelines were unmet.
In June, the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said petrol, refined at the refinery, will hit the market in July.

Mr Dangote, who disclosed this when he received a Senate delegation led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on a tour of the facility at the time, explained that the date change was because of a delay that prompted the shift from the initially proposed date of June to mid-July.

Again, in July, Mr Dangote said petrol production in the refinery was disrupted because of the fire incident at the refinery.