Dangote Petroleum Refinery has increased exports of gasoline and urea fertiliser to several African countries facing supply shortages triggered by the ongoing Middle East conflict involving Iran.
The refinery’s owner, Aliko Dangote, disclosed this on Monday during a facility tour in Lagos, revealing that the plant is now operating at its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
According to Dangote, the refinery has played a major role in cushioning the impact of the global supply shock across Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
“What I can do is assure Nigerians and most of West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa that we have the capacity to supply them,” he said.
He noted that the refinery has already exported about 17 cargoes of gasoline to other African countries in recent weeks as demand surged across the continent.
Dangote also revealed that exports of urea fertiliser have increased significantly, with shipments redirected toward African markets that previously did not rely heavily on supplies from the facility.
“In the last couple of days, we’ve been looking mostly to African countries, which we were not doing before,” he said, explaining that the shift was driven by urgent demand from nations seeking alternative sources of fuel and fertiliser.
Officials at the refinery said the facility can produce up to three million metric tonnes of urea annually, much of which had historically been exported to markets in the United States and South America.
Despite the increased refining output and exports, fuel prices in Nigeria have continued to climb, reflecting broader global market pressures.
Dangote attributed the rising domestic prices largely to the high cost of crude oil, noting that higher refining capacity alone cannot fully offset the rising cost of feedstock.
However, he expressed optimism that pricing crude oil in naira for domestic supply could help ease pressure on local fuel prices.
“We are working towards getting more crude cargoes priced in local currency, which will help in reducing the pressure on fuel costs,” Dangote said.
Government officials said Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has increased crude oil supply allocations to the refinery. The state oil firm is expected to deliver seven cargoes of crude in May, compared with five cargoes in previous months.
The surge in demand for petroleum products across Africa is linked to a mix of global and regional factors. Supply disruptions linked to the Middle East conflict have forced many African countries to seek closer and more reliable sources of refined fuel.
Limited refining capacity across the continent has also made several countries heavily dependent on imported fuel products.
Seasonal factors, growing industrial activity, and increased transportation demand have further pushed up consumption of refined products such as petrol and diesel.
Within Nigeria, the removal of fuel subsidies and the deregulation of the downstream sector have exposed domestic fuel prices to global crude oil fluctuations, contributing to higher pump prices.
Analysts also point to the depreciation of the naira as another factor raising the cost of imported fuel, which has increased reliance on local refining capacity provided by facilities like the Dangote refinery.
While the refinery’s higher output is expected to improve supply stability across the region, experts say the full benefits may take time to materialise due to persistent structural challenges in Africa’s energy market.
