Dangote refinery boosts exports to ease petrol supply in Africa
By Our Reporter Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has increased exports of petrol and urea to African countries as part of deliberate plan to ease supply disruptions caused by the
By Our Reporter
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has increased exports of petrol and urea to African countries as part of deliberate plan to ease supply disruptions caused by the United States-Israel-Iran war.
President, Dangote Group and Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, yesterday confirmed increase in exports to African countries with an assurance that the 650,000 barrels per day refinery has the capacity to meet Nigeria’s and other African countries’ fuel demand.
Speaking during a tour of the refinery yesterday, Dangote said the refinery, which is operating at its maximum capacity, had helped cushion the full impact of the crisis both in Nigeria and across the continent.
He said: “What I can do is assure Nigerians … and most of West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa, we have the capacity to supply them”.
He said the facility had shipped some 17 cargoes of fuel to other African nations and exports of urea fertiliser had also recently risen, as buyers sought alternative sources of supply.
“In the last couple of days, we’ve been looking to mostly African countries, which we were not doing before,” he said, referring to the fertiliser shipments, without giving figures.
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The refinery has capacity to produce up to 3 million metric tons of urea annually, most of which is typically exported to the United States and South America, officials say.
Dangote said the refinery hoped to get more crude cargoes priced in local currency to help curb fuel costs.
Two trade sources and a refinery official had told Reuters last week that Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL) was allocating seven May cargoes for Dangote refinery, up from five in previous months.
Dangote Group and Honeywell International Inc had recently entered into a strategic partnership that would see the expansion of the daily processing capacity of the refinery to 1.4 million barrels per day (mbpd).
The collaboration would provide advanced technology and services that would enable the refinery to increase its processing capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2028, marking a major milestone in its long-term vision to build the world’s largest petroleum refining complex.
Under the agreement, Honeywell will supply specialised catalysts, equipment, and process technologies that will allow the refinery to process a broader slate of crude grades efficiently and to further enhance product quality and operational reliability.
Besides, Dangote will also be scaling up its polypropylene capacity to 2.4 million metric tons annually using Honeywell’s Oleflex technology. Polypropylene is a key industrial material widely used across packaging, manufacturing, and automotive applications.
The group is also progressing with the next phase of its fertiliser growth plan in Nigeria.
“We will increase our urea production capacity from three million metric tons to nine million metric tons annually. The existing plant consists of two trains of 1.5 million metric tons each. The expansion will add four additional trains to meet growing demand for high-quality fertiliser across Africa and global markets,” Dangote stated.
Dangote assured that it remains fully committed to delivering world-class industrial capacity, strengthening Nigeria’s energy security, and driving sustainable economic growth through long-term investment, innovation, and strategic global partnerships.
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Honeywell’s division UOP has been a technology partner to Dangote since 2017, providing proprietary refining systems, catalyst regeneration equipment, high performance column trays, and heat exchanger technologies that support best-in-class operations.
Dangote said the decision to expand the refinery capacity was driven by enabling environment created by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reforms and emerging opportunities across Africa.
According to him, with growing regional demand for cleaner fuels and Nigeria’s evolving policy environment that encourages local refining, the $20 billion facility, already the largest single-train refinery in the world, will more than double its capacity within the next three years, making it a global leader in petroleum refining and a major driver of Africa’s industrial renaissance.
He said the refinery will also expand its polypropylene production capacity from 900,000 metric tonnes to 2.4 million metric tonnes per annum, further boosting the output of linear alkylbenzene, a key ingredient in detergent manufacturing, along with additional production of base oils.
He said: “With this expansion, the refinery transitions from producing Euro V to Euro VI fuel standards, meeting the highest global environmental benchmarks. We will also expand our power generation capacity to 1,000 megawatts, ensuring complete operational self-sufficiency. More than 85 per cent of our workforce will be Nigerians, with continuous investment in skills development and technology transfer. Our commitment to safety, sustainability and local participation remains unwavering throughout every phase of the expansion”.
He said the expansion reflected the group’s belief in Africa’s potential to achieve energy security and transform its economy from being an exporter of raw crude to a hub for refined petroleum products.
He estimated that the refinery’s revenue could exceed $55 billion annually, making it one of the most valuable industrial assets on the African continent.
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“This expansion reflects our confidence in Nigeria’s future, our belief in Africa’s potential and our commitment to building energy independence for our continent and the world. It also is about confidence in Nigeria, in Africa and in our capacity to shape our own energy future.
“It is the dream of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for Nigeria to emerge as one of the major suppliers of petroleum products in the world. And with his strong backing through his policies, we are taking on the challenge to make this happen,” Dangote said.
He said the expansion would be executed over the next three years and would be financed through a mix of cash flow, public listing and strategic investors. When completed, the refinery will surpass India’s Jamnagar Refinery, currently the world’s largest facility, cementing Nigeria’s position as a global refining hub.
Highlighting the economic impact of the project, Dangote said the expansion would further strengthen Nigeria’s energy security, reduce foreign exchange outflows, and save the country billions of dollars annually that would otherwise go into importing refined products.
He said: “This expansion will create additional jobs, support thousands of SMEs, and deepen our industrial base. Our goal has never been just to refine oil, but to refine opportunities for our people. It is a vote of confidence in Nigeria, in the reforms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, and in the ability of Africans to build and manage world-class infrastructure”.
He expressed gratitude to President Tinubu and the Federal Government for supporting industrialisation policies such as Nigeria’s First, Naira-for-Crude and the ‘One-Stop Shop’ initiatives, which he said have emboldened investors to take on transformative projects.
He also commended the government’s intervention in mediating recent disruptions at the refinery linked to union activity and sabotage attempts, calling it a demonstration of effective collaboration between the public and private sectors.
