Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group and Africa’s richest man, has called on petroleum marketers to cease the importation of petrol, affirming that the recently commissioned Dangote Refinery has produced enough stock to satisfy the country’s local fuel needs.
The Dangote Refinery, located in Lagos, Nigeria, is one of the largest single-train refineries in the world. Construction of the facility began in 2016 as part of Dangote’s vision to address Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuel despite being one of the largest crude oil producers in Africa. The refinery faced several delays but was finally commissioned in May 2023. With an initial refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, the facility is expected to process crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other petrochemical products, thereby reducing fuel imports and stabilizing Nigeria’s fuel supply.
According to Dangote, the refinery currently holds over 500 million liters of petrol in its tanks, awaiting evacuation by buyers. He emphasized that this stock is enough to meet Nigeria’s fuel consumption for 12 days without relying on imports.
Dangote made these remarks during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The meeting focused on the local sale of crude oil and petrol in Naira, as part of efforts to ease foreign exchange challenges and reduce reliance on imported fuel.
Despite the refinery’s production readiness, Dangote acknowledged ongoing fuel scarcity across the country. However, he clarified that the Dangote Refinery does not engage in retail operations, meaning the onus is on petroleum marketers to purchase and distribute fuel from the refinery. He urged them to procure the available stock immediately to prevent fuel shortages and reduce the need for costly imports.
To ensure a stable fuel supply, Dangote expressed the refinery’s readiness to supply 30 million liters of petrol per day to the market, with plans to increase production if necessary. He stressed that retailers must act quickly to collect the stock to avoid bottlenecks at filling stations.
He also highlighted the financial burden of storing such a large volume of petrol, explaining that it costs the refinery money every day to keep 500 million liters in tanks. Therefore, he urged marketers to evacuate the stock as soon as possible to prevent further strain on operations.
Dangote assured that his refinery is committed to meeting Nigeria’s local fuel needs on the condition that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) continues to supply crude oil as agreed. This pledge aligns with the broader goal of the refinery to make Nigeria self-sufficient in fuel production and eliminate the long-standing reliance on imported petroleum products.
