Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is expected to require about 2.1 million barrels of crude oil per day to support his expanding refining operations across Africa.

The disclosure was made by Dangote Refinery’s Chief Economist, Dr Hassan Mahmood, who represented the group at the 3rd Nigeria Oil Refining Summit in Lagos.

Mahmood said the Dangote Refinery in Nigeria, initially designed to process 650,000 barrels per day, has been expanded to 700,000 barrels per day.

He added that another Dangote refinery outside Nigeria, also initially designed for 650,000 barrels per day, is being upgraded to 700,000 barrels per day, while the group already operates another 700,000 barrels per day refinery in East Africa.

The development comes as the Crude Oil Refinery-Owners Association of Nigeria and the Independent Petroleum Producers Group called for measures to ensure reliable and commercially viable crude supplies to domestic refineries.

CORAN also proposed the full institutionalisation of Naira-for-Crude, transparent access for qualifying refineries, a domestic crude pricing framework and stronger enforcement of the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation under the Petroleum Industry Act.