Nigeria’s 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) Dangote Refinery has announced plans to close its petrol unit for maintenance in June, according to industry monitor International Info Resources (IIR).

IIR notes that maintenance is expected to last for 30 days from June 1 – a move that likely signals the company’s goal of further increasing the plant’s production capacity. Currently, the refinery is operating at around 85%, according to comments made in February by a refinery official.

Although not yet at full capacity, Dangote continues to be the biggest downstream facility on the African continent, and the largest single-train refinery in the world. Sitting in the Lekki free zone in Lagos, the plant was envisioned by CEO of Dangote Industries Aliko Dangote, and was initially slated to begin production in 2016. Plans for the refinery began to take shape in 2013, after Dangote had signed an initial $3.3bn deal with local and foreign banks to fund its construction. Significantly behind initial estimates, Dangote first began refining gasoil, naphtha, and jet fuel in January 2024, with diesel and petrol following shortly afterwards.

Numerous media reports in Nigeria have speculated that maintenance could allow for a boost in operational capacity – leading to improved petrol output. Although promising in the long-term, the short-term impact of the refinery’s closure will likely influence petrol exports from Europe to West Africa – with the latter region relying heavily on the imported product. This may require European refiners to increase exports to meet an increase in demand, according to ChemAnalyst. Of course, the effect of this may be felt in the form of a temporary tightening in petrol supply within the Nigerian fuel market.

Alongside the announcement of upcoming maintenance, Dangote has also started talks with Nigeria’s state-owned oil company – the Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Ltd. (NNPCL) – to extend its crude supply agreement. So far, the NNPCL has said that it has been able to deliver 48mn barrels of crude to the plant. According to ChemAnalyst, the deal (if agreed) will allow the refinery to receive a more stable supply of crude, which would in turn help it achieve more stable output levels.