Nigeria’s Dangote refinery boosts fuel exports 37% in September as local deliveries fall

Nigeria’s privately owned Dangote Petroleum Refinery increased average daily exports of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel by 37.3% to 54.63mn litres in September 2026, overtaking its deliveries to the Nigerian market, which fell to 39.98mn litres.

Exports rose from 39.78mn litres daily in August, while domestic receipts fell 22.1% from 51.31mn litres, according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority’s (NMDPRA) September fact sheet, as analysed by Nairametrics on October 30. Exports accounted for 57.7% of the refinery’s combined evacuation of the three fuels, up from 43.7% in August.

Petrol and diesel accounted for about 94% of the net month-on-month swing towards exports. Petrol exports rose 59% to 15.47mn litres daily, while domestic deliveries fell 20.6% to 28.50mn litres. Diesel exports jumped 81.8% to 15.91mn litres, nearly double local receipts, which fell 34.2% to 8.14mn litres.

Aviation fuel showed the largest export surplus, with 23.25mn litres exported daily against domestic receipts of 3.34mn litres. Europe imported roughly 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) of jet fuel from the refinery in the second quarter, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters, as disruption to Middle Eastern supplies tightened the European market.

Dangote is also expanding regional fuel arrangements. Cameroon’s state-owned refining company Sonara announced on October 30 an agreement signed with Dangote Group and Nigerian distributor MRS Oil & Gas in Lagos on October 22. Volumes, contract value and duration were not disclosed.

The export shift comes as Dangote completes Africa’s largest share sale. The refinery’s NGN2.15 trillion ($1.6bn) initial public offering, which closed on October 27, drew about NGN6.4 trillion ($4.78bn) in domestic orders, according to sources cited by Reuters, with Securities and Exchange Commission clearance targeted for November 17 ahead of listing on the Nigerian Exchange. Unaudited results showed a net profit of $4.73bn in the nine months to September, implying about $2.9bn in the third quarter, more than the $1.82bn earned in the whole first half.

Production of the three fuels increased 15.7% to 97.67mn litres daily. NMDPRA reported 106% capacity utilisation against the original 650,000 bpd capacity, equivalent to a crude run of about 689,000 bpd, of which 71,000 bpd was drawn from crude inventory. However, the US Energy Information Administration says maintenance completed in February raised crude distillation capacity to 700,000 bpd, implying utilisation of approximately 98% on the expanded basis.

Feedstock remains a constraint. Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele said on October 9 that Nigeria did not have 700,000 bpd of uncommitted crude available to supply the refinery, which imports about a fifth of its feedstock, according to CSL Stockbrokers.

National petrol receipts fell 23.4% to 38.7mn litres daily, with imports down 30.1% to 10.2mn litres, which NMDPRA attributed to approved permit volumes being exhausted. Truck-out volumes, a proxy for consumption, averaged 44.4mn litres. Dangote produced 47.22mn litres of petrol daily, more than national consumption, but exported 15.47mn litres and added 3.25mn litres to refinery inventories.

National diesel receipts fell 40% to 8.7mn litres daily, the lowest in the 13 months covered by the fact sheet, against truck-out volumes of 14.5mn litres. NMDPRA cited low imports and weak domestic evacuation amid high prices. Petrol stock sufficiency improved to 23.9 days from 22.9 days in August but remained below the regulator’s 30-day benchmark, while diesel stock cover fell to 49.7 days from 51.6 days.

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