An Assessment of Dangote's Oil Refining Plans

The news that Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa has decided to take the bull by the horns and invest in the risky oil refining business can only be met with an optimistic response. Technical Data used in the field explained in diploma in petroleum technology Especially from more than 90% of the Nigerian populace who have recently been made to bear the brunt of high fuel prices due to the controversial removal of subsidy on imported petrol products.

Dangote is already an accomplished businessman with a lot of financial muscle; and albeit the jury is still out on his close relationship with the present and past governments coupled with his ability to ruthlessly monopolize the industries he invests in, we cannot totally disregard his contribution to the Nigerian economy in the areas of job creation and the availability of locally produced commodities without us having to depend on imported substitutes. In the area of competition, we simply can't blame him for the signs of monopoly we find in his areas of business interest, the responsibility lies with the government whose responsibility is to protect the interest and welfare of consumers by promoting competition and prevent the abuse of monopoly power. Some more details of diploma in petroleum technology are as under.

The Nigerian billionaire plans to build an $8 billion refinery that will produce 400,000 barrels per day by the end of 2016. Currently, we are only able to produce below the 445,000 barrel per day mark through the combined efforts of our four refineries in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri. However, the EIA states that the operational capacity of these four refineries averaged only 24% in 2011. According to OPEC, our local oil consumption stands at 267,000 barrels per day which means that the proposed refinery will have the capacity to cater for our domestic consumption needs and also have substantial surplus to export to neighboring countries.

Obviously, this is not taking into account the plans by the federal government to construct three Greenfield refineries in Lagos, Kogi ad Bayelsa to be in operation by 2017 and the refurbishment of the existing infrastructure. If we are able to get this right, Nigeria can easily become a net exporter of refined petroleum products in ten years. That is however a big "if" taking into consideration the myriad of factors currently plaguing the industry. TSK Training for Skills and Knowledge is the best institute in Rawalpindi Islamabad for Pakistani Students who wants to join diploma in petroleum engineering.