The Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Bayo Ojulari, has said Nigerians should be grateful for the leadership and inspiration of billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote, describing the Dangote Petroleum Refinery as a symbol of technological audacity and national pride.
Ojulari made the remarks on Saturday while addressing journalists during a landmark visit to the refinery alongside members of the NNPC board and executive management team.
The visit marked the first official tour of the 650,000 barrels-per-day facility by the senior management of the state-owned energy company. The refinery, regarded as Africa’s largest and most modern, has NNPC holding a seven per cent equity stake.
Commending Dangote’s vision and commitment, Ojulari said the scale and ambition of the project reflect bold leadership that has positioned Nigeria more prominently on the global energy map.
“Nigerians should be grateful for the leadership and the inspiration of Alhaji Dangote and the Dangote group for what my colleague called the audacity to embark on such a huge project,” he said.
Ojulari noted that while he had previously reviewed reports and videos of the refinery, seeing the facility in person provided a deeper appreciation of its sophistication and technological depth.
“There’s nothing like being here physically to actually see things for yourself. What we are seeing here is what I’d call the front line of world-class technology,” he stated.
Addressing concerns that had trailed the refinery’s “single train” configuration — a design sometimes viewed with caution due to operational risks — Ojulari said the plant’s advanced architecture and built-in redundancies ensure high operational availability.
“When you hear ‘single train’, the largest single train in the world, if you’re not familiar with the details, you’ll be very worried. And everybody was worried. I was also worried. But coming here and seeing the architecture of the plant and the redundancy that has been built into the plant, what you see is that the plant has been built in such a way that despite being single train, it has an incredibly high availability,” he said.
He attributed this resilience to the refinery’s deployment of advanced digital systems, artificial intelligence, electronics and mechanical technologies.
Ojulari also revealed that the refinery had exceeded its projected processing capacity during recent tests.
“This plant has now been tested to its full capacity, above its full capacity. What we saw on the screen today, which excited me, is 661. This plant was supposed to be 650. None of us ever thought it would ever touch even 550,” he said, referring to barrels per day.
According to him, the live operational parameters observed during the visit demonstrate the facility’s robustness and efficiency, adding that Nigerians should take pride in the achievement.
He further disclosed that plans were underway to expand the refinery through a replication model aimed at doubling its capacity while lowering capital expenditure and operational costs.
“Replication is when you design something which you already know you’ve made all the mistakes and then you just design one, build two, build three, build four,” he explained.
Ojulari said leveraging existing common infrastructure would significantly reduce capital outlay and improve cost efficiency, resulting in lower unit operating costs and a more efficient facility overall.
He added that as a shareholder, NNPC is fully supportive of the expansion initiative, expressing optimism about the refinery’s long-term impact on Nigeria’s energy security and industrial growth.
