…target Warri, Port Harcourt and Calabar
By Yahaya Umar
Dangote Refinery has announced plans to transport 75% of its local petroleum product supply via sea routes, targeting key locations like Warri, Port Harcourt, and Calabar, despite having the capacity to load 83% of its products by road.
Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of (oil & Gas) at Dangote Industries Limited, revealed this while speaking with Arise News as the refinery began distributing Premium Motor Spirit ,PMS, on Sunday.
He noted that the shift to sea transportation aims to reduce the higher costs associated with road distribution.
As the largest single-train refinery globally, Edwin stated that Dangote Refinery offers both sea and road export options but is ramping up efforts to evacuate nearly all production by sea.
Products for Calabar, Port Harcourt, Warri, Apapa, and Atlas will primarily move by sea, with road transport reserved for urgent needs, easing pressure on road infrastructure and cutting transhipment costs.
“We have both exporting facilities by sea and by road. 75% of the production can be evacuated through sea. In fact, now we are ramping up to make it even 100%.
“Anything going to Calabar, Port Harcourt, Warri, Apapa, Atlas can all be taken through the sea. So only what is imminently required by road can be taken.
“But I also have the facility to load 83% of my production also through road. We have just built-in flexibility but we can avoid all traffic congestion on the road by evacuating through sea and it will also bring down the cost of transhipment”, Edwin explained.
Edwin further noted that most products destined for central Nigeria can be shipped from Port Harcourt and Warri, while those for the East and Northeast can be moved from Calabar. This shift to sea transport, he noted, will significantly reduce costs and ultimately lower prices for consumers.
Dangote Refinery, with the capacity to load 40 tankers of PMS simultaneously in 40 minutes and manage up to 2,900 trucks daily, poses a significant risk of traffic congestion along the Lekki-Epe corridor, prompting a shift to sea transportation.
Given the influx of tankers from the refinery and other establishments in the Lagos Free Trade Zone, the Lagos State Government has implemented several measures to mitigate potential traffic issues.
One key initiative includes equipping the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority ,LASTMA, with advanced tow trucks, emergency tools, and ambulance services, along with deploying personnel strategically along the Lekki-Ajah corridor as the refinery begins petrol distribution.
Additionally, the Lagos State Government has announced that the electronic call-up ,e-call-up, system will be activated on the Lekki-Epe corridor from September 23, 2024, after a previously scheduled launch in August was postponed.
The e-call-up system is designed to tackle the persistent congestion caused by the influx of articulated trucks in the industrial-heavy Lekki-Epe region.
