Largest oil refinery in Africa and world opens in Nigeria

The world’s biggest oil refinery has been opened in Nigeria, where it is hoped it will alleviate chronic fuel shortages in Africa’s most populous country.

The plant, which is not yet operational, has the capacity to produce about 650,000 barrels of petroleum products a day,as well as 53 million litres of petrol - more than enough to supply the country's needs.

It also includes a power station, deep seaport and fertiliser plant.

The $19 billion refinery is owned by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote.

Nigeria's existing refineries have been completely shut down for over three years owing to oil theft, pipeline vandalism and structural neglect. As a result the country often faces chronic fuel shortages.

"This is a game-changer for the Nigerian people," said President Muhammadu Buhari.

The massive petrochemical complex in Lagos, which took nearly seven years to build, is said to be the world's largest single-train refinery, meaning the plant has one integrated distillery system which can produce a variety of products and petrochemicals, instead of having different units for each type of product.

Speaking at the commission ceremony, Dangote said the priority was to ramp up production to ensure the refinery could fully satisfy Nigerian demand and eliminate "the tragedy of import dependency."

The refinery is expected to meet Nigeria's domestic demand as well as serve global markets, Dangote said.

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