…Hits record 105% run rate
…Pumps 84.4m litres daily
Dangote Petroleum Refinery pushed capacity utilisation above the 100 percent mark for the first time on record last month, a sign that Africa’s largest oil-processing plant is settling into a level of output that could reshape fuel-supply patterns across West Africa.
The refinery ran at 105.21 percent of its 700,000-barrel-per-day nameplate capacity in August, according to data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority. That translated into an average throughput of 736,470 barrels a day, up sharply from 497,000 barrels, a 71 per cent utilisation rate, in July.
Deliveries of Nigerian crude to the refinery climbed 16.75 percent to 683,000 barrels a day during the month, easing a feedstock bottleneck that had periodically constrained the plant’s operations since it began ramping up production.
Higher throughput fed directly into finished-product output. The refinery produced an average of 84.43 million litres a day of refined white products, petrol, diesel and jet fuel, cementing its position as the dominant supplier of refined fuels to Nigeria and a growing exporter to the wider region.
Read also: Kenya court pauses construction work on Dangote Lamu refinery
The clearest sign of the refinery’s tightening grip on the domestic market came in petrol supply. Dangote’s deliveries of Premium Motor Spirit rose 39 percent month-on-month to 35.87 million litres a day in August, giving the plant roughly 71 percent of Nigeria’s total domestic petrol supply.
That surge in local output pushed national petrol imports down 26 percent to 14.60 million litres a day, according to the regulator’s figures, a decline that underscores how quickly Dangote’s refinery is displacing imported fuel that for decades made Nigeria, Africa’s largest crude producer, paradoxically dependent on foreign refiners.
The effect was even more pronounced in diesel. Domestic deliveries of Automotive Gas Oil averaged 12.37 million litres a day, helping cut national diesel imports to just 1.30 million litres a day in August from 7.90 million litres a day in July, a drop of more than 80 percent in a single month.
The refinery is also emerging as a net exporter of refined products, a role that stands to bolster Nigeria’s foreign-exchange earnings at a time when the government has made dollar conservation a policy priority. Dangote shipped an average of 9.73 million litres a day of petrol, 8.75 million litres of diesel and 21.30 million litres of aviation fuel abroad during August.
Combined with the drop in fuel imports, the export volumes point to a broader shift in Nigeria’s position in regional energy markets, from a chronic importer of refined products to a supplier capable of meeting demand in neighbouring countries as well as its own.
Dangote Group said the milestone reflects the refinery’s expanding contribution to energy security, foreign-exchange conservation and industrial growth.
The company reiterated its commitment to maximising local value addition and supporting economic diversification, while continuing to supply high-quality refined products to Nigeria, the rest of Africa and international markets.
Read also: President Ruto hails Dangote Refinery as group accelerates African expansion
Running above nameplate capacity, something refiners often avoid for extended periods because of wear on equipment, is being framed by the company as evidence of operational efficiency and reliability rather than a one-off spike.
Executives have pointed to steadier crude feedstock and process optimisation as the drivers behind the plant’s ability to sustain output above design levels.
The performance comes as the refinery’s ongoing public offering continues to draw investor interest, with the August figures likely to be cited by the company as evidence that operations have moved past the start-up volatility that characterised its first full year of production.
Utilisation rates swinging from 71 percent to more than 105 percent within a single month illustrate how sensitive output remains to crude availability, even as the underlying trend points upward
Dipo Oladehinde is a skilled energy analyst with experience across Nigeria’s energy sector alongside relevant know-how about Nigeria’s macro economy.
He provides a blend of market intelligence, financial analysis, industry insight, micro and macro-level analysis of a wide range of local and international issues as well as informed technical rudiments for policy-making and private directions.
