The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has exported about 1.35 billion liters (1 million metric tons) of petrol to various countries globally within the last 50 days, spanning from early June to mid-July 2025.
This significant export volume was announced by Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the President of the Dangote Group, during the recent Global Commodity Insights Conference on West African Refined Fuel Markets.
“Today, Nigeria has actually become a net exporter of refined products,” Dangote stated at the conference. He further elaborated, “From June beginning to date, we have exported about 1 million tonnes of PMS, within the last 50 days.”
This marks a pivotal shift for Nigeria, which has long relied on fuel imports, despite being a major oil producer, due to dilapidated state-owned refineries. This dependency strained foreign exchange reserves and subjected the economy to volatile global oil prices and supply disruptions.
The Dangote Refinery, with its capacity to process 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was built to address this chronic deficiency and position Nigeria as a regional refining hub. Despite the refinery's burgeoning export capacity, the broader West African region, including Nigeria, still relies substantially on imported fuel.
Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), provided context at the Global Commodity Insights Conference on West African Refined Fuel Markets, stating that statistical data for 2025 indicates an average of 2.05 million metric tons of gasoline traded monthly in the region, with a significant 69% still being imported. Specifically, Nigeria recorded the import of 231.881 million liters of petrol within eight days leading up to the conference.
This highlights a complex import-export dynamic, where Dangote's exports are beginning to offset, but not yet entirely negate, the region's overall import needs. Addressing concerns about the refinery potentially creating a monopoly in Nigeria's downstream sector, Dangote dismissed the allegations. "The reality is that too many people who have the means and the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to our nation's growth choose instead to criticise from the sidelines while investing their wealth abroad," he remarked.
