During the Stakeholders' Consultation Forum on Midstream and Petroleum Host Community Development Trust Regulations held in Abuja, the Nigerian Federal Government revealed that it will soon issue a fully valid operating license to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. The highly anticipated $20 billion refinery has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and was inaugurated by former President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2023. While the facility started releasing Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) to the domestic market in April of this year, it has yet to release Premium Motor Spirit (petrol).
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), an agency of the Federal Government, had previously awarded a pre-commissioning license to the refinery. However, the NMDPRA's Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, confirmed that a fully valid operating license would be issued to the Dangote refinery shortly.
Ahmed also disclosed that the NMDPRA has granted valid licenses to three refineries, with Dangote refinery set to join the list upon receiving its operating license. Additionally, he revealed that over 1,199 facilities in the downstream have valid licenses, and more than 176 operators hold gas import permits. The NMDPRA boss further disclosed that the downstream sector currently has 130 depots with valid licenses and more than 69 valid coastal vessel licenses. Furthermore, the agency has licensed 9,464 retail outlets as of April 30, 2024. In the midstream, there are about 15 gas processing facilities with valid licenses, while more are undergoing processing. Ahmed explained that the reason locations in the midstream and downstream arms of the oil sector were included as part of host communities is because emissions and effluence affect them. The purpose of the forum was to provide industry players and other stakeholders with an opportunity to ventilate their ideas and proffer measures that would enable the NMDPRA to relate better with host communities in the mid and downstream arms of the oil sector.
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