Key Factors
- Dangote Refinery to course of 100% Nigerian crude by 2025, slashing gasoline imports and boosting native oil market.
- The refinery now sources 53% of crude regionally, and expects full home provide as overseas contracts expire.
- Africa’s largest refinery ramps as much as 650,000 bpd, reinforcing Nigeria’s function as regional gasoline exporter.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Africa’s largest refinery owned by the continent’s richest billionaire, Aliko Dangote, plans to supply one hundred pc of its crude from Nigerian producers by the top of 2025, marking a significant milestone in Nigeria’s oil trade.
Devakumar Edwin, vp at Dangote Industries overseeing the plant, advised Bloomberg, “We anticipate long-term overseas crude contracts to run out and transition completely to home provide earlier than year-end.” This shift guarantees to scale back Nigeria’s dependence on imported refined fuels, curbing corruption and inefficiencies within the provide chain.
Crude shift reshapes Nigeria’s gasoline panorama
Since commissioning, the refinery’s gradual ramp-up has already turned Nigeria right into a web exporter of diesel, gasoline and aviation gasoline. Nonetheless, the ability leaned on crude from Brazil, Angola, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea after native manufacturing fell wanting demand.
Nigeria, an OPEC member, has seen majors retreat from onshore and shallow-water fields, handing concessions to smaller native operators. Mixed with pipeline theft and militant assaults within the Niger Delta, home output has fluctuated, crimping accessible feedstock.
Improved ties with state oil agency NNPC and native merchants, Edwin added, will safe a gradual provide of Nigerian barrels. In June, 53 p.c of the refinery’s feedstock was sourced regionally; the remaining 47 p.c got here from the US, per Bloomberg information.
Ramp-up and export dynamics
With roughly 5 one-million-barrel cargoes scheduled from NNPC in July and August, Dangote Refinery is poised to ramp native sourcing from June’s 53 p.c to full reliance on Nigerian grades by year-end. Lengthy-term overseas contracts will unwind, opening slots for home barrels.
At present processing 550,000 bpd, the plant targets 650,000 bpd by December. Full native integration will slash import payments and shore up gasoline provides, cementing Nigeria’s shift from the continent’s prime petrol importer to a regional provider.
Crude theft and pipeline sabotage within the Niger Delta, compounded by the exit of worldwide oil majors, have hindered home output. Authorities safety initiatives and contemporary fairness stakes for native merchants goal to stabilize upstream manufacturing.
Dangote expands power footprint
Past refining, the Dangote Refinery has launched a $467 million initiative to deploy 4,000 CNG-powered vehicles for transporting petrol, diesel, and aviation gasoline throughout Nigeria. The transfer aligns with a broader nationwide power transition technique and helps logistics effectivity amid rising gasoline prices.
In parallel, Dangote is expanding his $3 billion fertilizer plant, serving to minimize Africa’s reliance on imported fertilizers. With an estimated net worth of $27.8 billion (Bloomberg Billionaires Index), Dangote stays the continent’s wealthiest particular person.
