Nigeria’s Dangote oil refinery, a $19 billion project, has received its second crude cargo this month, according to a spokesperson for the company.

The cargo, which consists of 1 million barrels (mmbbl) of oil, was provided by state-owned oil company NNPC Ltd. This is a significant step for the refinery as it is preparing to begin operations.

The Dangote refinery has faced numerous delays over the years, but its operations are expected to have a major impact on Africa’s largest oil producer.

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 spokesperson for Dangote stated that the crude was loaded at Bonny Terminal, which is operated by Shell. The cargo is expected to be discharged at the refinery, located outside of Lagos, on Wednesday. Additionally, the spokesperson mentioned that another 3 mmbbl of crude is expected to be delivered before the end of the month.

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 a statement. The refinery was commissioned in May after facing years of delays.