Dangote’s fuel exports overtake domestic supply, hit 54.63 million litres daily

Exports of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery rose to 54.63 million litres per day in September 2026, exceeding the refinery’s combined domestic receipts of the three products for the month.

Data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority’s (NMDPRA) September 2026 Fact Sheet show that the refinery’s combined exports increased by 14.85 million litres per day from 39.78 million litres per day in August 2026, representing a month-on-month increase of 37.33%.

In contrast, the refinery’s combined domestic receipts declined by 22.08% to 39.98 million litres per day from 51.31 million litres per day in August.

This means exports exceeded domestic receipts by about 14.65 million litres per day in September, reversing the position in August, when domestic receipts were 11.53 million litres per day higher than exports.

What the data is saying

In the fact sheet, the refinery’s output is split into three uses: domestic receipts, which are volumes received into the Nigerian market; exports; and changes in refinery stock. Domestic receipts and exports together make up the refinery’s evacuation.

The shift occurred even as the refinery increased output.

• Combined production of petrol (PMS), diesel (AGO) and aviation fuel (ATK) rose by 15.68% to 97.67 million litres per day in September from 84.43 million litres per day in August.
• Average capacity utilization edged up to 105.98% of the refinery’s 650,000 barrels-per-day installed capacity, from 105.21% in August.
• Exports accounted for about 57.74% of the refinery’s combined evacuation of the three products, compared with about 43.67% in August.

The 105.98% utilization rate was partly supported by crude inventory. According to NMDPRA, the September utilization rate implies a crude run of about 689,000 barrels per day, against 618,000 barrels per day of crude received. The regulator said the 71,000 barrels per day difference was drawn from refinery inventory.

A breakdown of the data shows how the shift played out across each product:

• Petrol: Production rose by 12.59% to 47.22 million litres per day from 41.94 million litres per day. Exports increased by 58.99% to 15.47 million litres per day from 9.73 million litres per day, while domestic receipts declined by 20.55% to 28.50 million litres per day from 35.87 million litres per day.

• Diesel: Production increased by 35.04% to 24.32 million litres per day from 18.01 million litres per day. Exports rose by 81.83% to 15.91 million litres per day from 8.75 million litres per day, while domestic receipts declined by 34.20% to 8.14 million litres per day from 12.37 million litres per day, making exports 1.95 times domestic receipts.

• Aviation fuel: Production rose by 6.74% to 26.13 million litres per day from 24.48 million litres per day. Exports increased by 9.15% to 23.25 million litres per day from 21.30 million litres per day, while domestic receipts rose to about 3.34 million litres per day from 3.07 million litres per day.

Aviation fuel exports drove the crossover, accounting for 87.44% of the refinery’s evacuation of the product in September. Although combined domestic receipts of petrol and diesel remained higher than their exports at 36.64 million litres per day against 31.38 million litres per day, the gap narrowed sharply from 29.76 million litres per day in August to 5.26 million litres per day in September.

National petrol and diesel receipts fall

The decline in the refinery’s domestic receipts coincided with a broader fall in national petrol and diesel receipts, which cover volumes received from both domestic refineries and imports.

• Nigeria’s average daily petrol receipts fell by 23.37% to 38.7 million litres in September from 50.5 million litres in August. Imports declined by 30.14% to 10.2 million litres per day, which NMDPRA attributed to approved permit volumes being exhausted.
• Notably, Dangote’s petrol production of 47.22 million litres per day exceeded Nigeria’s average daily petrol consumption of 44.4 million litres, measured as volumes trucked out into the domestic market. However, not all of that output was available to Nigerian consumers. Of the 47.22 million litres per day produced, 28.50 million litres went into the domestic market, 15.47 million litres were exported and 3.25 million litres were added to refinery stock.

Diesel receipts declined by 40% to 8.7 million litres per day, the lowest in the 13 months covered by the fact sheet, against average daily consumption of 14.5 million litres. NMDPRA attributed the low receipts to low imports and low domestic evacuation amid high prices.

What you should know

In a previously reported article by Nairametrics, Nigeria’s daily petrol imports fell to 14.6 million litres in August 2026, while Dangote Refinery operated at 105.21% capacity utilization and exported 9.73 million litres of petrol per day.

• September’s figures show a further shift towards exports, with combined exports of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel exceeding the refinery’s domestic receipts.
• NMDPRA reported that domestic refining met about 65% of national petrol consumption in September. Meanwhile, petrol stock sufficiency stood at 23.9 days, below the regulator’s 30-day threshold, while diesel stock sufficiency fell to 49.7 days from 51.6 days in August.

This leaves a gap between output and availability as Dangote alone produced more petrol than the country consumed in September, yet national petrol stocks remained short of the regulator’s 30-day benchmark.