Dangote refinery begins 24-hour petrol loading operations

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has commenced night-time loading operations because it intensifies efforts to maintain a every day provide of greater than 50 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) throughout Nigeria, signalling a serious shift to full 24-hour operations at Africa’s largest refinery.

The transfer comes because the refinery continues to ramp up manufacturing, stabilise logistics, and strengthen gas safety, whereas countering hypothesis round upkeep actions and provide disruptions. Initially designed for daytime evacuation, the ability has now expanded loading to nighttime hours to make sure that rising output is matched with uninterrupted offtake.

Talking throughout a press briefing on the refinery on Wednesday, the Managing Director, David Chicken, mentioned the transition to round the clock loading had turn into obligatory to satisfy market demand and enhance turnaround time for product evacuation.

In keeping with him, the refinery is now assembly the 50 million litres every day petrol requirement in each manufacturing and evacuation.

“What I’m extremely happy with is that, within the second half of 2025, whereas we had been nonetheless ramping up capability of our conversion models and downstream models, we had been nonetheless capable of ship 50 million litres a day, extra frankly than 52 million litres on some events,” Chicken mentioned.

He added, “We’re already doing nighttime loading. So it’s a 24-hour operation. We have now celebrated over 50 million litres of offtake as nicely, which suggests over a thousand vehicles progressing by way of the gate and thru the gantry. Actually studying and constantly bettering our logistics and our turnaround time of getting these vehicles by way of.”

Chicken emphasised that sustaining excessive output shouldn’t be solely about manufacturing but in addition environment friendly offtake. “It’s risky. We see a dip on weekends and so forth. All of it relies on demand and out there shares; if not, we are able to export. However for me, the first goal is to display that we are able to proceed to supply over 50 million litres a day after which see the place true market demand in Nigeria lies.”

He linked secure provide to financial exercise, noting, “Having a cheaper price and an abundance of provides will stimulate demand, which is an efficient factor. That can proceed to stimulate financial exercise by having secure, reasonably priced, clear fuels out there. I do count on the demand to extend because of this stability and abundance of our product.”

Chicken additionally highlighted the refinery’s operational flexibility, explaining that it will probably preserve output even throughout deliberate upkeep. “We have now continued to ship 50 million litres a day. We have now constructed this flexibility into our system in order that particular person models will be taken out for upkeep and nonetheless meet completed product demand,” he mentioned.

The MD described the Dangote refinery as a extremely versatile service provider refinery, able to producing petrol by way of a number of routes, together with crude processing, intermediate feedstocks, and mixing elements.

“This isn’t only a single crude processing plant. It’s a very versatile, resilient manufacturing course of the place we are able to make our completed product from crude, from intermediates by way of our conversion and remedy models, or by bringing in mixing elements,” Chicken mentioned.

This flexibility, he added, permits the refinery to produce the Nigerian market persistently whereas sustaining export functionality, a requirement for working on a worldwide service provider refining scale.

“We have now the requirement to have the ability to at all times export our completed product. By definition, which means we have now to make world-quality fuels and be sure that we are able to land our product competitively anyplace on this planet. We should be certain that our manufacturing is compliant with Euro-5 gasoline and diesel,” he mentioned.

Chicken additionally credited the refinery with reworking Nigeria’s gas market. “Nigeria has gone from gas shortage to gas abundance. Past quantity, we’re supplying cleaner, Euro V-compliant fuels, ending West Africa’s long-standing repute as a dumping floor for substandard petroleum merchandise.”

He added that home refining is vital to cost stability. “In case you are absolutely import-dependent, you might be uncovered to international market fluctuations. Having home manufacturing drives a stage of insulation from international volatility in each crude and product costs,” he defined.

The refinery boss concluded that whereas exports stay an choice, prioritising the home market is central to sustaining provide, stabilising costs, and supporting financial exercise nationwide.

“We’re dedicated to sustaining 24-hour operations to satisfy home demand, guarantee gas safety, and supply a secure provide to the Nigerian market,” Chicken mentioned.