Nigeria’s Dangote oil refinery could begin test runs as early as this week after receiving a sixth crude cargo, company officials disclosed to Reuters. The plant received 1 million barrels of oil from the Agbami field in the Niger Delta, bringing to 6 million barrels the amount of crude that has been delivered since the first cargo arrived in December, Dangote’s spokesperson said in a statement.

According to information made available to Reuters by a senior company executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the next step is to start up the crude distillation unit, which is a major component of the refinery, he disclosed. That process would “most probably” begin this week, the executive added.

“Subsequently, we will be continuously buying crude and start commissioning the other departments,” said the executive. Saleable products will start coming from the first week itself. But, of course, the volume will be limited and the variety of saleable products will also be limited and it will start building up, as each major department gets commissioned.”

The Nigerian Dangote Refinery 650,000 barrels per day (BPD) integrated refinery project is located at Lekki free trade zone area of Lagos state. The project, which cost an estimated $19 billion to build, is Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility. The integrated refinery and petrochemical project and is expected to generate 9,500 direct and 25,000 indirect jobs.

 The refined products output is expected to be more than enough to meet Nigeria’s fuel demands and turn Africa’s largest crude producer into an exporter of refined crude.

Nigeria has 20 percent equity investment share in the project and this was made known in June 2021, Mele Kyari, group managing director, NNPCL, when confirmed that the federal government would acquire a 20 percent equity stake in the Dangote Refinery.