Nigeria’s first privately owned and operated refinery, Dangote refinery, will refine up to 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day at installed capacity and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is upbeat about this prospect, projecting an increase in crude refining capacity by 2020 once the refinery is in operation.
Presently, total world oil production in 2019, averaged 80,622,000 barrels per day with approximately 68 percent, being accounted for by the top 10 oil exporting countries and an overlapping 44 percent from the 14 current OPEC members.
OPEC, in the current edition of its World Oil Outlook, is expecting some capacity expansion either through the rehabilitation of existing refineries – in part, to raise utilisation rates – or through grassroots projects, like the Dangote Oil Refinery.
It also expects that the completion of the project will reduce the importation of petroleum products in West Africa
According to the organization, Africa, has about 50 listed refining projects, and if completed, would add nearly 5mb/d of new refining capacity to the continent.