Lagos — Nigeria’s Dangote oil refinery has cancelled June maintenance at its 204,000 barrels per day gasoline-making unit as it completed planned works during an unplanned shutdown from April 7 to May 11, according to industry monitor IIR.
During the unplanned outage, the Dangote refinery increased exports of residual products such as straight run fuel oil, while exports of finished products such as jet fuel and gasoil dropped, according to shipping trade analytics firm Kpler.
Dangote Refinery had originally scheduled a 30-day maintenance shutdown in June for its gasoline-producing Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit.
The refinery has since pushed back on reports of the unit being under unplanned repair, stating that such claims are not entirely accurate.
According to data from shipping analytics firm Kpler, during the unplanned outage, the refinery ramped up exports of residual products such as straight run fuel oil, while shipments of finished fuels like jet fuel and gasoil declined.
Dangote refinery
The 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery, built by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, began producing diesel, naphtha, and jet fuel in January last year, followed by petrol production in September.
The refinery aims to compete with European suppliers, though it has faced challenges in securing enough crude locally.
According to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Dangote’s oil push in Nigeria is already starting to disrupt the European oil market.
Economists suggest that the Dangote refinery could potentially end the long-standing gasoline trade from Europe to Africa, which is valued at $17 billion annually.
