The Dangote oil refinery in Nigeria received its first cargo of 1 million barrels (mmbbl) of crude oil from Shell International Trading and Shipping Co. (STASCO), after years of delay.

Once fully operational, the refinery, funded by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, will have a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bbl/d). This will make Nigeria, an OPEC member, a net exporter of fuels, a long-awaited achievement for a country that heavily relies on imports.

The cargo of 1 mmbbl of crude from Agbami and a deep-water field operated by Chevron is the first of 6 mmbbl that will enable the initial running of the refinery. This will kick-start the production of diesel, aviation fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas before the refinery starts producing premium motor spirit, according to a statement from Dangote Group.

A spokesperson for Dangote Group stated that the STASCO cargo arrived on a chartered vessel and was discharged into the refinery’s crude oil tanks. The next four cargoes will be supplied by the state oil firm NNPC in the next two to three weeks, and the final cargo will come from ExxonMobil, according to the statement.

In November, Nigeria’s state oil firm, NNPC, signed an agreement to supply the Dangote refinery with up to six cargoes of crude starting this month. NNPC also has a 20% stake in the refinery.

Despite being the biggest oil producer in Africa, Nigeria has been facing repeated fuel shortages. The country spent a whopping $23.3 billion on petroleum product imports last year and consumes around 33 million liters of gasoline per day.

“Our focus over the coming months is to ramp up the refinery to its full capacity,” said Dangote in the statement. The refinery was commissioned in May after facing years of delays. With a cost of $19 billion, this massive petrochemical complex is one of Nigeria’s largest investments.