Dangote refinery drives increase in petroleum shipments from Nigeria

Seaborne petroleum product exports from Nigeria have grown seven-fold since 2023, playing an increasing role in the international market for petroleum products at a time when supplies from other areas have been constrained.

Underpinned by the opening of the Dangote refinery in January 2024, seaborne petroleum product shipments from Nigeria averaged 561,000 barrels per day (b/d) in the second quarter of 2026 (2Q26), compared with an annual average of 79,000 b/d in 2023, according to data from Vortexa. Of those shipments, 350,000 b/d were exported in 2Q26, compared with an annual average of 46,000 b/d in 2023.

With the increased supply of petroleum products in Nigeria from the country’s largest refinery, imports fell, exports increased, and Nigeria became more self-sufficient in refined petroleum products. Before the Dangote Group commissioned the new refinery, Nigeria’s existing state-owned refineries shipped less than 100,000 b/d of seaborne petroleum products to various parts of Nigeria and other countries.

Products shipments expanded notably twice: first after operations at Dangote began and again following the completion of maintenance and expansion in February 2026, coinciding with supply constraints out of the Strait of Hormuz.

Maintenance completed on the Dangote refinery in February 2026 increased the facility’s crude oil distillation capacity from 650,000 b/d to 700,000 b/d. With higher runs at Dangote and product trade through the Strait of Hormuz disrupted, total shipments of petroleum products (intra-Nigerian and exports) increased.

Intra-Nigerian shipments climbed to 211,000 b/d in 2Q26, up from 81,000 b/d in 2025 and 33,000 b/d in 2023. By shipping petroleum products to other parts of Nigeria, Dangote decreased Nigeria’s reliance on imports. Nigeria imported nearly 400,000 b/d of petroleum products in 2023, and seaborne imports fell to less than 130,000 b/d in 2Q26.

Nigeria’s seaborne petroleum product exports to Europe averaged 130,000 b/d in 2Q26, up from 40,000 b/d in 2025 and 15,000 b/d in 2023, according to data from Vortexa. Exports to other countries in Africa increased as well, reaching nearly 120,000 b/d in 2Q26, up from 89,000 b/d in 2025.

The Dangote Group plans to double its refinery capacity by adding a second 750,000-b/d crude oil distillation unit by 2028.

Principal contributor: Hilary Hooper, Candace Dunn