Nigeria enters new era of petrol abundance as Dangote refinery ends fuel scarcity

Dangote Petroleum Refinery Plc has assured Nigerians that petrol scarcity is now a thing of the past, declaring that the country has entered a new era of fuel abundance.

The assurance was given by the newly appointed Managing Director of the refinery, David Bird, during a press briefing in Lagos on Wednesday, following what he described as seamless fuel supply throughout the Christmas and New Year period.

Bird said the uninterrupted supply during the festive season marked a significant milestone for the refinery and for Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector, adding that the country is now consuming world-class fuels produced to Euro 5 standards.

According to him, the refinery’s products meet the same quality benchmarks as fuels exported to Europe, while its jet fuel is supplied to international markets including Dubai. He criticised the long-standing practice of dumping substandard fuel in West Africa, saying Dangote Refinery’s output represents a major public health improvement due to lower sulphur content and cleaner emissions.

“We have been able to achieve 1,000 trucks daily and 500 million litres a day,” Bird said, noting that stable and lower fuel prices are contributing to broader economic stability, including support for the naira.

He added that the company’s decision to further expand refining capacity and scale up polypropylene production to 2.4 million tonnes would strengthen domestic manufacturing and create a large industrial ecosystem capable of supporting Nigeria’s growing population.

Bird said the company would not dwell on the controversial internal reorganisation carried out in October, stressing that management attention is now focused on capacity building and long-term expansion.

“Dangote’s vision for the expansion is all about enforcing lower costs that can expand to areas that are population-led,” he said.

The refinery’s managing director also dismissed claims by some industry players that the N739 petrol pump price is anti-competitive, insisting that the pricing reflects market realities.

“The retail price is fully competitive. The consumer has a choice, and I would like to see a change in how the regulator works for the market,” Bird said.

Speaking alongside him, the Head of Communications for the Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, said the ongoing crisis in Venezuela has inadvertently highlighted the benefits of domestic refining for Nigeria.

“We are a producing country,” Chiejina said, as Bird emphasised that local refining is critical to insulating Nigeria from global oil price volatility.

Bird explained that heavy reliance on imported petroleum products exposes the country to fluctuations in crude oil and refined product prices, while local production provides stability and shields the economy from international shocks.

“Nigeria is now enjoying world-class fuel. We have the capacity, and we must ensure our production consistently meets European quality standards,” he said, describing the refinery as a continental project rather than a conventional crude processing plant.

He said the refinery’s objective is to drive price stability within a defined range of international benchmark markets, adding that expansion plans are based on what he described as “ruthless replication”.

According to Bird, the refinery has demonstrated its ability to build large-scale facilities within three years, with steel structures for the next expansion phase expected to begin rising before the end of 2026.

He disclosed that despite ramping up several processing units in the second half of 2025, the refinery consistently supplied more than 50 million litres of finished fuel daily, at times exceeding 52 million litres.

Bird attributed this performance to the refinery’s design, describing it as a highly flexible merchant refining, blending and trading platform rather than a single-crude facility.

On production and evacuation, he said off-take has matched output levels, averaging over 50 million litres per day, with the capacity to export excess volumes when domestic demand is lower.

Addressing fuel distribution, Bird said about 4,000 trucks are currently stationed at the facility, adding that the final step before full nationwide rollout is the deployment of a computerised security system to ensure customers receive the exact volumes purchased.

On petrochemicals, Bird said polypropylene production is central to the refinery’s long-term strategy. He noted that the existing polypropylene plant has a capacity of 800,000 tonnes, while an additional propane dehydrogenation unit will raise output to 1.2 million tonnes. Further expansion will eventually lift total capacity to 2.4 million tonnes.

He added that future diversification plans could include detergents, base oils, lubricants and liquefied petroleum gas, driven by import substitution and Nigeria’s population growth.

Speaking on the crude-for-naira programme, Bird said between 30 and 40 per cent of the refinery’s crude supply currently comes through the initiative.

He said the company continues to engage with Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Federal Government to improve crude allocations, noting that the programme has played a significant role in stabilising the naira and could be expanded in Nigeria’s long-term economic interest.