Economy
Dangote Refinery Finally Hits Full 650,000-Barrel Per Day Capacity
By Adedapo Adesanya
Dangote Refinery has reached its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day following the successful optimisation of critical processing units, marking a turning point for Africa’s largest refinery, located in Lagos.
The $20 billion facility is now operating at full capacity, a world-record milestone for a single-train refinery.
This achievement comes after the completion of an intensive performance testing on the refinery’s Crude Distillation Unit and Motor Spirit production block.
According to the chief executive of Dangote Refinery, Mr David Bird, the refinery is now positioned to supply up to 75 million litres of petrol daily to the domestic market, a dramatic increase from the 45 million – 50 million litres delivered during the recent festive period.
The development can reshape Nigeria’s energy landscape and reduce the country’s longstanding dependence on imported refined products.
“Our teams have demonstrated exceptional precision and expertise in stabilising both the CDU and MS Block,” Mr Bird said. “This milestone underscores the strength, reliability, and engineering quality that define our operations.”
The refinery has completed a 72-hour series of performance test runs in collaboration with technology licensor UOP, a Honeywell company, to validate operational efficiency and confirm that all critical parameters meet international standards.
The tests covered the naphtha hydrotreater, isomerisation unit, and reformer unit, which together form the backbone of the facility’s gasoline production capability.
The milestone marks another achievement for the businessman and majority stake owner at the facility in his ambition to transform Nigeria from Africa’s largest crude oil producer into a refining powerhouse.
Since the commencement of the facility in 2016, it has faced numerous setbacks, including pandemic-related delays, foreign exchange challenges, and technical complications.
It was finally commissioned in May 2023 to help wean Nigeria off imported petroleum products, due to the chronic underperformance of its state-owned refineries.
Despite being Africa’s largest crude producer, the country has not been able to self-produce, even with four state-owned refineries with a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day. This has led to decades of high dependency on importation.
The Dangote refinery’s emergence at full capacity has the potential to eliminate this import dependence while positioning Nigeria as a net exporter to West African markets.
Yet, the refinery faces difficulty securing adequate crude oil supplies from Nigerian producers, forcing it to import feedstock from the US, Brazil, Angola, and other countries.
Mr Bird also confirmed that Phase 2 performance test runs for the remaining processing units are scheduled to commence next week, suggesting further capacity optimisation ahead.
The official emphasised the refinery’s commitment to “enhancing Nigeria’s energy security while supporting industrial development, job creation, and economic diversification.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria hopes to begin delivering natural gas to Abuja by July through its long-delayed Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline.
According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), this marks a key milestone for the country’s gas development plans.
“We’re hoping that by July, gas will be delivered to Abuja through the AKK gas pipeline,” a spokesperson for the commission told the regulator’s in-house magazine.
The 614-kilometre (382-mile) pipeline is designed to deliver more than 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day and is a core part of Nigeria’s strategy to shift its energy mix towards gas, supply power plants and industries in the north, and reduce reliance on diesel and fuel oil.
Nigeria holds Africa’s largest gas reserves, estimated at over 210 trillion cubic feet, but much of the country’s gas infrastructure remains underdeveloped, making the AKK pipeline a critical test of its gas-led growth ambitions.
The $2.8 billion project, first conceived in 2008, has missed several delivery targets, including earlier deadlines of 2023 and the final quarter of 2025.
Construction began in 2020 but was slowed by funding pressures and engineering challenges, most notably the crossing of the River Niger.
That section, widely regarded as the project’s most technically demanding, required drilling beneath the riverbed using horizontal directional drilling, often compared to a scaled-down version of the Eurotunnel.
Reuters reported that work on the project is moving at an advanced pace, with the critical pipeline more than 90% complete.
Gas transported through the AKK pipeline will be sourced from Nigeria’s southern producing areas largely through its interconnection with the East-West Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline, according to industry officials.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The first trading session of the week at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended on a positive note, with a 0.22 per cent gain on Monday, April 13.
This expansion was buoyed by the gains recorded by two securities, which offset the losses posted by three other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by N7.83 to trade at N99.89 per share compared with the previous N92.00 per share, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc advanced by 5 Kobo to sell at 62 Kobo per unit versus last Friday’s 57 Kobo per unit.
On the flip side, 11 Plc declined yesterday by N21.30 to N201.00 per share from N222.30 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) lost 46 Kobo to trade at N63.04 per unit compared with the preceding session’s price of N63.50 per unit, and UBN Property Plc decreased by 20 Kobo to N1,98 per share from N2.18 per share.
At the close of transactions, the market capitalisation of the platform went up by N5.01 billion to N2.320 trillion from N2.315 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) grew by 8.38 points to 3,878.83 points from 3,870.45 points.
During the session, there was a 1,267.4 per cent jump in the volume of securities traded by investors to 2.6 million units from 188,593 units. The value of securities rose by 21.2 per cent to N31.2 million from N25.7 million, and the number of deals increased by 42.31 per cent to 37 deals from 26 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 57.6 million units exchanged for N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.6 million units traded at N1.8 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
In March 2026, Nigeria became a net exporter of premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, with Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals exporting 44,000 barrels per day (b/d) of the product.
This allowed the country to earn fresh foreign exchange (FX) to help boost the value of the Nigerian Naira in the currency market, which, in turn, will strengthen the economy.
In a statement on Monday, Dangote Refinery said it exported gasoline to East Africa for the first time, delivering a 317,000‑barrel cargo to Mozambique. The shipment reflects growing regional demand as East African buyers diversify supply sources away from the Middle East Gulf amid ongoing supply disruptions. A further gasoline cargo from the refinery is scheduled for delivery to Beira, Mozambique, in April.
Before now, Nigeria relied heavily on imported refined petroleum products from across the world, but this seems to be changing, especially at this time, the globe is experiencing supply disruptions due to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
The March export milestone underscores Nigeria’s accelerating progress toward self-sufficiency in refined petroleum products and strengthens its ambition to become a competitive supplier in the global downstream energy market.
Data from market intelligence firm Kpler showed that Nigeria’s gasoline imports fell sharply to 41,000 b/d in March, the lowest level ever recorded. At the same time, crude oil supply to the Dangote facility climbed to approximately 565,000 b/d, the second-highest intake since the 650,000 b/d-capacity refinery began operations in late 2023. The figures point to strong processing rates and rising product yields across the complex.
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