Nigeria: Aliko Dangote, president of Nigeria's largest cement producer Dangote Group, has announced that he is increasing his refinery's capacity to 650,000b/day. The move, according to petroleum industry analysts, will see Nigeria listed as having the largest petroleum refinery in the world.
Dangote said that the initial plan was to have 450,000b/day refining capacity, but that he has since opted for a bigger plant because he believes that Nigeria, as a leading producer of crude oil, should also be credited with local refining capacity. Currently, Nigeria produces crude oil, but has to buy refined products from abroad. Dangote Group executive director Devakumar Edwin said that the Dangote refinery was ready to reverse the trend. The refiner is expected to be fully operational by 2017.