Alhaji Debo Ahmed, the Chairman, Western Zone of IPMAN said in Lagos that the refinery would address the lingering crisis of importing refined products into the country.
Ahmed said that the $16b investment project would revamp the oil and gas industry when it finally kick-starts its operations.
He, however, appealed to all stakeholders to support the actualisation of the huge investments to address the challenges confronting the nation’s downstream sector.
Ahmed said that the Dangote refinery would impact positively on the downstream investments and significantly boost the country’s economic growth.
According to him, its 650, 000 barrels per day refining capacity projects would have a great multiplier effect on the nation’s economy when completed.
“The refinery is expected to solve the country’s crude oil refining and exporting challenges when completed. It will also be able to supply 95 per cent of local daily consumption.
“It is also expected that half of Nigeria’s crude would then be refined and exported, rather than just exporting crude, to create jobs elsewhere,” he said.
The IPMAN boss, therefore, urged government to harness the potentials of the private sector to make the national economy recover speedily.
“The Dangote Refinery, Petrochemicals and Fertilizer Project, which is reputed to be the biggest in Africa, when completed, will offer a lot of relief in the quest for the diversification of Nigeria’s economy from a total dependence on oil to other areas like agriculture and solid minerals.
“We have been assured that when the project fully takes off, it would save the country over 12 billion dollars now being spent on the importation of oil into the country.
“It has also been said that it would as well save for Nigeria about three billion dollars per annum on forex from exports,” he added.
The IPMAN official said it was, therefore, needful for government to support the project to come on stream, adding that the company had substantial compliance to local content development since most of its jobs were being handled by Nigerians.
The 650, 000 BPD refinery project located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos State is scheduled to come on stream by 2019, and expected to increase to 90 per cent by 2030.
Construction work on the ongoing Dangote Refinery project commenced in 2013.
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