Dangote Refinery denies shutdown, maintains 50m litres daily petrol supply

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has dismissed reports suggesting it was shutting down operations for maintenance, insisting that the facility remains fully operational and continues to supply more than 50 million litres of petrol daily to the Nigerian market.

In a statement issued on Monday, the management of the Lagos-based refinery described the reports as false, misleading, and deliberately circulated to create panic within the downstream petroleum sector.

The company reaffirmed that production at its 650,000 barrels-per-day facility remains stable and uninterrupted, despite recent volatility in pump prices nationwide.

According to the refinery, it has consistently sustained petrol production levels of between 40 million and 50 million litres per day, depending solely on market demand. It disclosed that on January 4, it produced 50 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), with 48 million litres evacuated through its gantry the same day.

The company added that marketers lifted more than 48 million litres of petrol on Sunday alone.

Dangote Refinery further assured Nigerians that its current stock levels are sufficient to cover over 20 days of national consumption, effectively dispelling fears of imminent fuel shortages. It also reiterated that its ex-gantry price of N699 per litre remains unchanged and available to all marketers and bulk buyers.

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“Dangote Petroleum Refinery continues to operate at scale and retains the capacity to supply between 40 million and 50 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) daily through January and February, subject solely to market demand,” the statement said.

While acknowledging that routine maintenance is being carried out on specific units such as the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit, the refinery explained that these activities have not affected overall output due to the integrated and flexible design of the facility.

The company added that other key units, including the Naphtha Hydrotreater, Continuous Catalytic Reformer (CCR), and the Hydrocracker, remain fully operational and continue to produce PMS, Automotive Gas Oil (diesel), and Jet A-1 fuel.

Addressing concerns about sustained product availability, the refinery revealed that between December 16, 2025, and the present date, it has consistently loaded between 31 million and 48 million litres of PMS daily, in line with prevailing market demand.

“These volumes are fully verifiable against depot loading records maintained by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in the normal course of its regulatory responsibilities,” the statement noted.

The refinery also highlighted the critical role of domestic refining in stabilising fuel prices, warning that in the absence of local production, petrol prices could rise to as high as N1,400 per litre in a post-subsidy environment.

“The refinery’s operations have therefore served as a critical stabilising force in the downstream petroleum market,” the statement added.

In December, Dangote Refinery reiterated its readiness to take full responsibility for meeting Nigeria’s domestic petrol demand, pledging to supply up to 1.5 billion litres of PMS monthly, equivalent to 50 million litres per day.

The company further disclosed plans to scale up supply to 1.7 billion litres per month, or about 57 million litres daily, from February 2026.