Nigeria’s Gasoline Imports Plunge as Dangote Refinery Hits Trade

Bloomberg | Nigeria’s imports of gasoline are on course for an eight-year low as the country’s new mega-refinery pushes out foreign suppliers, boosting the nation’s fuel independence.

Shipments into the West African nation stood at about 110,000 barrels-a-day during January 1-24, data compiled by Bloomberg from analytics firm Vortexa Ltd. show. If that rate were to continue for the rest of the month, the country’s imports – most of which come from Europe – would hit their lowest since 2017.

“A large part of the slowdown in Nigeria’s gasoline imports is due to the ramp up of the Dangote refinery,” Vortexa analyst, Samantha Hartke, told Bloomberg. “Northwest Europe will have to find alternative homes for its gasoline supplies,” Hartke added.

The Dangote Refinery, located in Lekki, Lagos, which is disrupting global fuel sales, is a state-of-the-art oil facility that has revolutionized the country’s oil industry. The refinery, owned by the Dangote Group, is the brainchild of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.

The US$20 billion Dangote refinery, equipped with cutting-edge technology, including advanced crude distillation units, catalytic cracking units, and hydro processing units, has a capacity to process 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it the largest refinery in Africa.

As the refinery continues to ramp up production, Nigeria is set to become self-sufficient in petroleum products, reducing reliance on imports, and saving the country the roughly US$10 billion spent on fuel imports yearly.