Online Reporter
Nigeria’s giant Dangote refinery says it now produces more gasoline and diesel than can be consumed locally, as it backed a proposal by the West African nation to impose a 15 percent import duty on refined products.
The refinery is now “loading 45 million litres of PMS and 25 million litres of diesel daily, which exceeds Nigeria’s demand,” Anthony Chiejina, a spokesman for the Dangote Group, said in a statement on Saturday. “This significant production capacity not only guarantees local supply, but also enhances energy security and reduces dependence on imports.”
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has approved the “immediate implementation” of a new fuel tax, according to an October 21 letter written by his private secretary and seen by Bloomberg.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service, which proposed the levy, said the implementation hasn’t started yet. The tax is meant to protect local refiners, according to the document.
The 650 000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery is Nigeria’s main local crude processor. The state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has four refineries with a combined capacity of 445 000 barrels a day, but they haven’t operated for decades despite billions having been spent to rehabilitate them.
Other smaller refineries with private operators have a combined capacity of about 90,000 barrels per day.
Africa’s richest person, Aliko Dangote, who owns the eponymous refinery opened in 2024, said this week that he would raise the processing capacity to 1,4 million barrels a day over the next three years to make it one of the biggest in the world.
Nigeria’s government in the past has accused Dangote of trying to become a monopoly but has shifted its position, declaring the plant too important to fail and crucial to the nation’s economy, and demanding that it should be supported by all means. — Bloomberg
