The Dangote Petroleum refinery, the largest in Africa, could begin operating at full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day in 30 days.
The Head of Refinery, Edwin Devakumar, disclosed this on Monday as reported by Reuters.
According to him, the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery built by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote in Lagos began processing crude into products, including diesel, naphtha, and jet fuel, in January last year and started processing petrol in September.
“The refinery was currently operating at 85% capacity, and we can go 100 percent in 30 days,” Devakumar stated.
He noted that last year, the refinery had to import crude oil after it could not secure enough supply locally, despite an agreement with the Nigerian government to buy crude in the local naira currency.
According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the refinery has requested 550,000 bpd of crude for January-June this year from Nigerian oil producers.
NNPCL has also stated that it would block export permits for oil cargoes from producers that fail to meet their stipulated supply quota to local refineries.
The Dangote Oil Refinery is also working on expanding new markets for its refined products.
Aliko Dangote, founder of Dangote Refinery told a group of visiting Nigerian professionals last week that the refinery had sent two cargoes of jet fuel to Saudi Aramco as part of its plans to expand.
Devakumar stated that the refinery is actively exploring all available markets to expand its reach.
The refinery is expected to compete with European refiners once it reaches full capacity but has faced challenges in securing sufficient crude locally.
What you should know
Following the recent output, Aliko Dangote stated that the refinery has steadily increased its output since it began operation in 2024, and it has now reached a capacity of 85% which is at 552,500 barrels per day as indicated in the report.
- The refinery started importing crude oil abroad last year after the NNPCL failed to supply it with sufficient crude oil for its operations as reported by Nairametrics.
- In November 2024, Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, urged collaboration with local refineries to meet Nigeria’s daily petrol demand of 32 million litres.
- The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has recently exported two jet fuel cargoes to Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia and the world’s largest oil producer.
