Gasoline unit at Nigeria's Dangote oil refinery to undergo maintenance in June, IIR says

Nigeria's Dangote oil refinery will shut its 204,000 barrels per day gasoline-making unit for 30-day maintenance tentatively expected to start on June 1, according to industry monitor IIR.

The Dangote refinery did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 650,000 bpd refinery built by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote in Lagos began processing crude into products, including gasoil, naphtha and jet fuel, in January 2024 and started producing gasoline in September.

It has yet to reach full capacity, with a refinery official saying it was operating at 85 per cent capacity in early February.

After the maintenance, Dangote's gasoline production could increase if the plant is able to ramp up in time, two Europe-based oil trading sources said.

Dangote's maintenance could prompt European gasoline exports to west Africa, one of the sources added.

The refinery began discussions with Nigeria's state oil company NNPC earlier this month to extend its crude supply contract, NNPC said, adding that it had supplied 48 million barrels of oil to the Dangote refinery.

Prior to the deal, the Dangote facility reported difficulties securing crude supplies and it received US crude grades including WTI Midland.

The refinery has been exporting refined products including fuel oil, jet fuel, naphtha and gasoil mainly to other African countries and Asia since March 2024, according to shipping trade analytics firm Kpler.

Nigeria's gasoline imports have dropped since the Dangote refinery started producing the road fuel in September, reaching a record-low of 112,000 bpd in February, from 372,000 bpd in February 2024, Kpler data show.

(Reporting by Enes Tunagur. Editing by Bernadette Baum, Mark Potter and Louise Heavens)