Nigeria has effectively moved beyond the long-standing problem of petrol shortages and is now operating in a phase of sustained fuel availability, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has said.
The Managing Director of the refinery, David Bird, gave the assurance in Lagos on Wednesday during a media briefing, citing the facility’s uninterrupted supply of petrol and other products throughout the recent Christmas and New Year holidays as evidence of the new reality.
According to Bird, the country is no longer just enjoying increased volume of fuel but is also benefitting from higher quality products that meet international standards. He explained that the refinery’s gasoline and aviation fuel are produced to Euro 5 specifications and are now being exported to Europe and the Middle East, including Dubai.
He described this as a major public health gain, noting that West Africa had for decades been flooded with sub-standard, high-sulphur fuels that contributed to environmental pollution and respiratory illnesses.
“We are not just delivering quantity, but cleaner, healthier fuel,” Bird said, adding that the plant is currently dispatching up to 1,000 trucks daily and producing about 50 million litres of refined products each day, with peak volumes sometimes exceeding 52 million litres.
He said the refinery’s operations have helped stabilise domestic fuel prices and are supporting Nigeria’s currency, as the country now relies less on imported petroleum products.
Bird dismissed allegations by some marketers that the refinery’s pump price of N739 per litre was anti-competitive, stressing that consumers still have freedom of choice in the market.
“Our prices are competitive and transparent. What we need now is a more responsive regulatory framework that reflects market realities,” he stated.
The Head of Communications for the Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, also said global supply disruptions, including the crisis in Venezuela, highlight the importance of domestic refining capacity.
Bird added that heavy dependence on imports exposes Nigeria to international price shocks, whereas local refining shields the economy from volatility in global crude and product markets.
He disclosed that the refinery is not designed as a single-crude processing facility but as a flexible merchant refining and blending platform capable of handling different crude types and market demands.
On expansion plans, Bird said the company is investing heavily in additional capacity, particularly in petrochemicals. The existing polypropylene plant currently produces about 800,000 tonnes annually, but a new propane dehydrogenation unit will lift production to 1.2 million tonnes, with a long-term target of 2.4 million tonnes.
He said the petrochemical push is expected to catalyse domestic manufacturing, create jobs and deepen Nigeria’s industrial base, while future diversification could include lubricants, base oils, detergents and Liquefied Petroleum Gas.
The managing director said about 4,000 trucks are presently operating at the refinery site, adding that the final step before full nationwide rollout of the free-trucking initiative is the installation of a computerised security and monitoring system to ensure accurate product delivery.
On crude supply, Bird revealed that between 30 and 40 per cent of the refinery’s feedstock currently comes from the government’s crude-for-naira programme, which he said has played a key role in easing pressure on foreign exchange and stabilising the naira.
He noted that discussions with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Federal Government are ongoing to increase crude volumes under the scheme, describing it as critical to Nigeria’s long-term economic resilience.
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