Metro

Dangote Refinery to roll out petrol in August

Published

4 months ago

July 15, 2024

The President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that the Dangote Refinery will roll out its Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, in August after resolving lingering crude oil supply issues through the help of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and the Federal Government.

The delay in the roll out of petrol by the refinery on its earlier scheduled date of July, according to Alhaji Dangote while addressing media executives during a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals factory in Lagos on Sunday, was as a result of challenges in crude supply which affected the supply of petrol from the refinery.

According Dangote, the crisis over supply of crude from the International Oil Cooperations (IOCs) has now been resolved following the intervention of the NNPCL and the Nigerian government.

“We plan to list the refinery and petrochemical before the end of the first quarter of next year. The issue of crude has been settled last week. But we hope that the IOCs will respect it,” he stated.

“The Federal Government have only 7.2 per cent because it failed to pay for the balance for the 20 per cent stake The IOCs are deliberately and willfully frustrating our efforts to buy the local crude.

“It seems that the IOCs’ objective is to ensure that our petroleum refinery fails. It is either they are deliberately asking for a ridiculous and humongous premium or they simply state that crude is not available.

“We plan to list the refinery and petrochemical before the end of the first quarter of next year, ” he stated.

He noted that the issue the refinery was having with international oil companies regarding the supply of crude was resolved last week.

“The issue of crude has been settled last week. But we hope that the IOCs will respect it, ” he added.

Dangote also expressed hope that the authorities and stakeholders will abide by the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA.
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According to Dangote, the refinery commenced full operations in 2024, starting with the refining of intermediate products such as polypropylene, naphtha, RCO, gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.

He noted that the refinery steady state production phase commenced in March 2024 while also expecting the ramping up production to reach 500,000 barrels per day with 15 crude cargoes a month by next August, 550,000bpd by the end of the year, and 650,000bpd by the first quarter of 2025.

Devakumar Edwin, the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, had last week accused international oil companies in the country of plotting to frustrate the survival of the new Dangote refinery.

Edwin, in a statement, said the IOCs were deliberately and willfully frustrating the refinery’s efforts to buy local crude by hiking the cost above the market price by $6, thereby forcing the refinery to import crude from countries as far as the US, with its attendant high costs.

“The IOCs are deliberately and willfully frustrating our efforts to buy the local crude.

“At some point, we paid $6 over and above the market price. This has forced us to reduce our output as well as import crude from countries as far as the US, increasing our cost of production.

“It appears that the objective of the IOCs is to ensure that Nigeria remains a country, which exports crude oil and imports refined petroleum products. They are keen on exporting the raw materials to their home countries, creating employment and wealth for their countries, adding to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and dumping the expensive refined products into Nigeria, thus making us dependent on imported products.”

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Metro

Morocco’s Mpox test gets African CDC endorsement

Published

3 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A major step forward in Africa’s response to the continuing epidemic was taken Thursday when the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) revealed that it had endorsed Morocco’s locally created mpox test.

A “major milestone” for African public health systems, the new real-time PCR test can identify mpox pathogen DNA in tissue, saliva, and blood samples, improving the continent’s capacity to address new health risks.

The Africa CDC announced the clearance on X (previously Twitter), highlighting the validity and effectiveness of Morocco’s mpox test.

The support is in line with the African Union’s overarching goal of enhancing public health self-sufficiency in order to anticipate and effectively address disease risks.

This development follows three months ago when the Africa CDC declared the mpox epidemic to be a public health emergency.

Previously known as monkeypox, mpox is a disease that infects animals and people by intimate personal contact. Symptoms include fever, muscular pains, and characteristic skin lesions.

Alongside the CDC’s work, Abbott Molecular Inc.’s Alinity m MPXV assay, the first mpox diagnostic test, was authorised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) last month.

This diagnostic tool provides an additional means of monitoring and managing the virus by identifying mpox from swab samples.

Approximately 1,100 people have died and over 50,000 instances of mpox have been recorded throughout Africa this year, with Central Africa experiencing the highest number of cases and fatalities.

Metro

Mpox immunisation scarcity slows Kinshasa’s epidemic fight

Published

4 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A lack of mpox vaccine doses has prevented the Democratic Republic of the Congo from starting a campaign in the capital, Kinshasa, the response commander has confirmed. However, the number of cases nationwide is still rising, particularly among youngsters.

In mid-August, a new strain of pox started to spread from the Congo to neighbouring countries, prompting the WHO to declare a global health emergency. However, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, donors have been hesitant to turn their pledges into cash and vaccines.

The head of operations for Congo’s mpox control program, Cris Kacita, stated on Tuesday that the country needed more than 162,000 doses of vaccine to start a vaccination campaign in the capital, but that 53,921 doses were still available for use in prisons, where inmates are at greater risk because of unsanitary conditions.

The capital, which is home to about 20 million people, has so far been less impacted than other parts of the nation. In six other provinces, vaccination campaigns are now underway.

Along with additional shipments from Germany and the African Union, France has committed to providing 100,000 doses.

He added the arrival of vaccines was also delayed by the administrative process, which includes sending an official request, manufacturing, creating documentation and gaining import authorisations.

“As long as we don’t have the necessary quantity, it’s going to be complicated to launch (vaccination) in the 14 health zones,” Kacita told Reuters, referring to areas of Kinshasa.

According to a health ministry study, from October 28 to November 2, 1,017 new suspected cases were registered nationwide in Congo, including 45 confirmed cases and 16 fatalities.

Since children are almost four times more likely than adults to die from the new strain of mpox, the charity Save the Children warned on Wednesday that targeted vaccines were necessary to halt the virus from spreading quickly among children.

“Children are especially vulnerable to mpox – they explore by touch and taste, don’t always understand health guidance, and have weaker immune systems than adults,” Katia Vieira de Moraes LaCasse from Save the Children said.

According to Africa CDC data, there have been over 42,000 suspected cases of Mpox in the continent, with 1,100 deaths reported so far this year.

The Mpox virus can spread from person to person via intimate contact and also from place to person through objects and surfaces that a person infected with Mpox has touched.