Declare: In a video printed on Instagram, fashionable Afrobeats singer Seun Kuti known as out the Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, saying the Federal Authorities spent $2bn to buy a 20 per cent stake in Dangote Refinery, whereas the identical quantity was used to purchase your complete Sinclair Refinery in America. He famous that each refineries have the identical measurement.
He mentioned, “Are you aware how a lot the Federal Authorities put into the refinery? They gave $2bn. I did a stay stream the day they introduced that they had given Dangote $2bn for 20 per cent of that refinery. That very same day, Sinclair Oil in America offered the identical measurement of refinery with rail tracks, trains, and different issues for $2bn. The identical Dangote has the audacity to come back outdoors and say the federal government is sabotaging him.”
Findings
Seun Kuti is a well-liked Afrobeats artiste with a big following on social media. The stay video, which he titled, “Organised abandonment, misinformation and miseducation” had been watched by greater than 160,000 of his Instagram followers and shared by completely different blogs.
In keeping with info from the official web site of Dangote Group, the Dangote Refinery is the world’s greatest single-train facility which has 1,100 kilometres to deal with 3bn Normal Cubic Foot of fuel per day. The refinery, constructed by Aliko Dangote, was launched on Might 22, 2023, however commenced operation on Friday, January 12, 2024, after taking supply of six million barrels of crude oil.
Located within the Lekki Free Zone close to Lagos, the refinery has 4.78bn litres of storage capability for refined petroleum merchandise and is designed to supply as much as 50m litres of gasoline and 15m litres of diesel a day. The refinery is a 650,000bpd built-in venture.
Nevertheless, the Sinclair Oil Firm operates an 85,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Sinclair, Wyoming, and a 25,000bpd refinery in Casper, Wyoming. The 2 refineries (110,000 bdp) course of crude from the Rocky Mountain area, whereas the Sinclair operation additionally runs Canadian crude.
In keeping with Reuters, the corporate has 1,500 branded gasoline stations throughout 29 states within the US. It’s best recognized for its trademark inexperienced dinosaur mascot, Dino, seen on fuel station indicators and depicted in a balloon that has flown within the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York a number of occasions. The corporate additionally has a community of crude oil and finished-product pipelines and terminals within the Rocky Mountain and midcontinent areas.
The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma Historical past and Tradition confirmed that Harry Ford Sinclair (1876–1956) fashioned the Sinclair Oil and Refining Company on Might 1, 1916, as a completely built-in firm with manufacturing, pipeline, refining, and product distribution capabilities. The 2 refineries of the American oil firm had been, nonetheless, acquired for $2.6bn by HollyFrontier Company in August 2021.
In February 2024, the Dangote Refinery was ranked the seventh largest refinery on the earth by NS Vitality and SK Vitality, however the American refinery was not among the many high 10 on the listing.
In August 2021, a former Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, mentioned the Federal Govt Council authorised the acquisition of a 20 per cent stake in Dangote Refinery for $2.76bn. However just lately, Dangote revealed that the federal government’s stake within the refinery has decreased to 7.2 per cent from the preliminary determine.
A Professor of Vitality with specialisation in Oil, Pure Gasoline, Electrical energy, and Vitality Transitions on the College of Lagos, Dayo Ayoade, mentioned Kuti was incorrect.
“How can Sinclair Oil Refinery be of the identical degree as Dangote Refinery of 650,000bpd? Seun isn’t an professional on power. He’s a musician and social activist. So, you possibly can’t take him severely on power challenge. Clearly, he isn’t right on the declare as a result of the Dangote refinery has simply been constructed. It’s not a refinery that has been on floor for years like Sinclair, which is an outdated refinery,” he added.
Verdict: The declare by son of the Afrobeats legend is fake