Africa’s largest refinery is set to run entirely on Nigerian crude by year-end, potentially replacing hundreds of thousands of barrels of imports, according to Bloomberg.
Dangote Industries Ltd. plans for its 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery—the largest in Africa—to rely solely on Nigerian crude oil by the end of 2025, Bloomberg reports.
Currently processing 550,000 barrels daily, the refinery sourced 53% of its crude from domestic producers in June and the remainder from the U.S. Vice President of Dangote Industries, Devakumar Edwin, said: “We expect some of the long-term contracts will expire… before the end of the year we can transition 100% to local crude.”
The shift could displace hundreds of thousands of barrels of imported crude daily.
The refinery, commissioned in May 2023, was envisioned to help Nigeria reduce costly fuel imports. It has purchased crude from Brazil, Angola, Ghana, and Equatorial Guinea but now plans to deepen ties with local producers.
Challenges remain, including crude theft and weakened local supply. Yet, the ramp-up has already made Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products and a cornerstone of regional industrialisation, ECOWAS says.