The owner of Dangote Refinery, Aliko Dangote, has announced August 2024 as the new date to roll out fuel supply in the Nigerian market.

Dangote disclosed this on Sunday while speaking to journalists.

He noted that it has resolved its crude oil supply issues with the help of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL and the Nigerian federal government.

He stressed that the crude supply challenge was resolved last week after the federal government intervened.

The journalists were on a guided tour of the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery, which is located at Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.

Outside fuel supply, he said that the refinery’s fertiliser unit would resume production in two weeks.

This would give farmers more access to fertiliser for their farm products.

“Ramping up production to reach 500 kbpd (15 crude cargoes a month) by next August, 550 kbpd by end of the year, and 650 kbpd by Q1 2025.

“Gasoline production to commence in July with sales from August,” a report released by the company stated.

This showed a long walk to the commencement of full-scale production at the Dangote Refinery, which was commissioned on May 22, 2023.

Dangote had earlier stated that the facility would kick off the supply of fuel in Nigeria in mid-July 2024.

In a similar development, the company announced that NNPCL no longer has a 20 per cent but a 7.2 per cent stake in the refinery.