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Key Points
- The 90,000-metric-ton shipment marks Nigeria’s entry into Asia’s fuel market, signaling the refinery’s global ambitions.
- After ending Nigeria’s fuel import dependence, Dangote’s plant now supplies both West Africa and global markets like the U.S. and Asia.
- With Nigerian crude output limited, the refinery increasingly relies on U.S. WTI crude to sustain and expand fuel production.
Just after cutting Nigeria’s long-standing reliance on fuel imports, Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote is taking the next big step with his $20 billion refinery. This time, the move reaches beyond Africa, as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery prepares to send Nigeria’s first gasoline shipment to Asia
Dangote fuel heads to Asian market
A 90,000-metric-ton cargo of gasoline is scheduled to leave the refinery for Asia, marking the first time fuel from the Lagos-based facility will be sold outside the region. Until now, all gasoline exports from the refinery had remained within West Africa. This shipment signals a shift, pointing to the company’s broader ambition to compete in the global market.
According to Reuters, Mercuria is set to load the cargo on June 22. “We sell our products to those who are willing to pay the best price. It’s up to the buyer where they choose to take it,” a Dangote refinery spokesperson said.
The refinery’s ability to serve markets beyond Africa shows it’s not just meeting local demand, it’s ready to play a bigger role globally. Industry experts say this development underscores growing confidence in the refinery’s capacity and reliability, and its increasing significance in global fuel supply chains.
Mega refinery redefines fuel flows
For years, Nigeria was Africa’s top fuel importer, despite its status as a major oil producer. That changed when the Dangote refinery began ramping up operations.
Now, the country imports far less petrol. The refinery, Africa’s largest and the world’s biggest single-train facility, has reshaped the regional fuel trade, pushing South Africa into the top spot as the continent’s biggest refined fuel importer for the first time in over a decade.
Since it began operations, the refinery has steadily ramped up output, reaching 500,000 barrels per day by January 2025. It expects to hit its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by mid-year. Along the way, it’s been expanding its footprint—sending its first shipment of aviation fuel to Saudi Arabia and exporting 2 million barrels of jet fuel to the United States.
Dangote refinery turns to U.S. crude
To maintain output, the refinery is increasingly turning to U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, as Nigeria faces tighter domestic oil supplies. This shift highlights ongoing challenges in the local oil sector, ranging from underinvestment and pipeline theft to aging infrastructure, as well as the refinery’s need for stable, high-yield crude.
With lower demand for U.S. oil in Asia due to trade tensions with China, more WTI barrels are becoming available to Atlantic buyers like Dangote. Industry insiders say Vitol Group has been instrumental, supplying an estimated 14 million barrels of WTI Midland, a grade now part of the Brent benchmark, to the Nigerian refinery this summer.
