Africa’s largest refinery cuts petrol unit by 34% as exports slump

Nigeria’s Dangote refinery has reduced operating rates at its main gasoline-producing unit by 34% since May 21, raising concerns about fuel supply and export volumes at a time when global oil markets are already under pressure.

• Africa’s largest refinery has reduced operating rates at its key petrol-producing unit by 34% since May 21.
• The affected RFCCU unit converts heavy refinery residues into valuable fuels including gasoline.
• Gasoline exports from the refinery have fallen from 81,000 barrels per day in April to 10,000 barrels per day so far in June.
• The disruption comes as oil markets face renewed pressure from conflict in the Middle East.

Industry monitor IIR Energy said the refinery’s Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (RFCCU) is expected to return to full rates by mid-June after repairs to a flue gas slide gate valve.

“Initially, lighter crude being processed resulted in insufficient feed availability for the RFCCU. However, by the end of May, IIR Energy confirmed that the RFCCU was also facing an issue with its flue gas slide gate valve. Repair work on that issue is almost complete,” Reuters quoted IIR as saying in an email.

Dangote refinery have yet to respond on the matter.

Why the RFCCU matters

The RFCCU is one of the most important units in a modern refinery. It converts heavy residual oils left over after crude processing into higher-value products such as gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas.

Because the unit helps maximise fuel production from every barrel of crude, disruptions can have a direct impact on petrol output, exports and refinery profitability.

The temporary reduction has already shown up in export figures.

According to commodities analytics firm Kpler, gasoline exports from the refinery dropped to 17,000 barrels per day in May and have averaged just 10,000 barrels per day so far in June, compared with 81,000 barrels per day in April.

A refinery reshaping Africa’s fuel trade

The 700,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery is Africa’s largest refinery and the world’s largest single-train refinery.

The facility became fully operational earlier this year after years of construction and billions of dollars in investment.

It was built to help end Nigeria’s decades-long dependence on imported petrol despite the country’s status as Africa’s largest crude oil producer.

Since reaching full operations, the refinery has increasingly supplied fuel to Nigeria and other West African markets, altering regional trade flows that were previously dominated by imports from Europe and other refining hubs.

The refinery has also emerged as one of Africa’s fastest-growing exporters of refined petroleum products, making any disruption closely watched by traders, marketers and governments across the continent.

Pressure from global oil markets

The outage comes at a delicate time for energy markets.

Oil prices have risen sharply in recent weeks amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, increasing concerns over fuel costs globally.

For Nigeria, where fuel prices remain highly sensitive to international crude prices and exchange-rate movements, any reduction in domestic refining output is likely to attract attention from consumers and fuel marketers.

While IIR Energy expects the gasoline unit to resume full operations within days, the incident underscores the growing importance of the Dangote refinery to Nigeria’s energy security and Africa’s fuel supply chain.

As the continent’s largest refining complex continues to expand its reach across regional markets, even short-lived operational disruptions now carry implications far beyond Nigeria’s borders.