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The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has revealed that the European market has started feeling the pinch of the ongoing production of petroleum products at the multi-billion dollar Dangote Refinery.
In the latest edition of its Monthly Oil Market Report published on January 15, 2025, the global oil body noted that the importation of European refined products has reduced since the Dangote Refinery commenced operations.
It stressed that gasoline volumes produced in the international market would have to find new destination markets due to the refining efforts at the Lagos-based refinery.
“The ongoing operational ramp-up efforts at Nigeria’s new Dangote refinery and its gasoline exports to the international market will likely weigh further on the European gasoline market.
“Continued gasoline production in Nigeria, a country that has relied heavily on imports to meet its domestic fuel needs in the past, will most likely continue to free up gasoline volumes in international markets which will call for new destinations and flow adjustments for the extra volumes going forward,” the report partly read.
Impact of Dangote Refinery
Since coming on stream in December 2023, the indigenous refinery owned by Africa's leading industrialist, Aliko Dangote, has proven to be a game changer for energy consumers in Nigeria and neighbouring African countries.
The Dangote Refinery has reduced Africa's most populous country's heavy reliance on refined petroleum products, which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) served as the major importer.
The West African giant is bedevilled by decades-long energy challenges, with all its state-owned refineries moribund until recently when the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries were recommissioned after upgrading.
Fuel queues are a common occurrence in the country, with petrol prices skyrocketing from N180/litre since the removal of subsidy by President Bola Tinubu in May 2023.
The commodity now sells for around ₦1000/litre, compounding the woes of citizens who rely on the product to power their vehicles and generating sets, no thanks to decades of unreliable electricity supply.