Nigeria’s Dangote refinery, the largest in Africa, has stepped up exports of petrol and urea to African countries facing supply disruptions linked to the Iran war, according to its owner, Aliko Dangote.
Speaking on Monday during a tour of the refinery on the outskirts of Lagos, Dangote said the facility was operating at its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and had helped reduce the impact of the crisis in Nigeria and across the continent.
“What I can do is assure Nigerians … and most of West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa, we have the capacity to supply them,” Dangote said.
He added that the refinery had already shipped around 17 cargoes of petrol to other African countries. Dangote also said exports of urea fertiliser had increased in recent days as buyers sought alternative supply sources.
“In the last couple of days, we’ve been looking to mostly African countries, which we were not doing before,” he said, referring to fertiliser shipments, although he did not provide export figures.
The refinery has the capacity to produce up to 3 million metric tonnes of urea each year. Most of that output is usually exported to the United States and South America, according to officials.
Despite the refinery’s rise in output, fuel prices in Nigeria have climbed to record highs, according to industry data, reflecting the continued pressure of elevated crude oil prices. Maximum production at the Dangote refinery has not yet fully offset those costs in the domestic market.
Dangote said the refinery was seeking to secure more crude cargoes priced in local currency in an effort to help lower fuel costs.
Last week, two trade sources and a refinery official told Reuters that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company had allocated seven May crude cargoes to the Dangote refinery, up from five in previous months.
If you want, I can also make it more newsroom-style with a sharper intro and a stronger Workforce Africa tone.