Dangote Refinery to rely fully on Nigerian crude by end of 2025

The 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery, the largest in Africa, is on track to rely exclusively on Nigerian crude oil by the end of 2025, a strategic move that could significantly reduce the country’s reliance on imported petroleum feedstock and enhance domestic energy security.

According to a Bloomberg report, the refinery sourced more than half of its crude supply in June from local producers, and that percentage is expected to rise as long-term foreign contracts expire.

“We expect some of the long-term contracts will expire,” said Devakumar Edwin, Vice President at Dangote Industries Ltd., in an interview at the company’s Lekki Free Zone site. “Personally, and as a company, we expect that before the end of the year we can transition 100% to local crude.”

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Commissioned in May 2023, the $19 billion Dangote Refinery was envisioned as a game-changer for Nigeria’s energy landscape. It aims to reverse the long-standing practice of exporting crude oil to Europe and importing refined products at a higher cost — a cycle long criticized for its inefficiencies and corruption.

Although the refinery has already made Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products, its ramp-up has required importing large volumes of crude from overseas due to insufficient domestic supply.

Edwin confirmed that the plant is currently refining 550,000 barrels per day, and that Nigerian oil now accounts for 53% of its feedstock, while the remaining 47% is still sourced from countries like the United States, Brazil, Angola, Ghana, and Equatorial Guinea.

However, Edwin remains optimistic that improved cooperation between the refinery, indigenous producers, and government agencies will bolster domestic crude availability.

Bloomberg reports that the Dangote Refinery is scheduled to take five one-million-barrel cargoes from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) in both July and August 2025—a clear indication of growing local supply.

“If Dangote achieves full sourcing from domestic crude, it will significantly boost Nigeria’s oil value chain, cut forex outflows, and reduce the fiscal burden of fuel imports,” said Dr. Olufemi Adegbite, an oil and gas economist at the University of Lagos.

“More importantly, it strengthens energy sovereignty and stabilizes downstream pricing structures,” added Bola Onasanya, a senior analyst at Energy & Trade Research Africa.

During a recent visit, President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, praised the refinery as “a beacon of hope for Africa’s future,” and a model for how the private sector can drive regional industrialization.

If the Dangote Refinery transitions fully to local crude by the end of 2025 as planned, it will represent a critical milestone in Nigeria’s efforts to revive its domestic refining capacity and stabilize its energy economy.

For now, the refinery’s progress continues to generate cautious optimism among industry players, with expectations that it could catalyze broader reforms across Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.