Nigeria’s Dangote refinery, the largest in Africa, has increased exports of gasoline and urea to African countries facing supply shortages linked to the Iran war, according to its owner Aliko Dangote.
Dangote stated on Monday that the refinery is currently operating at its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and has helped soften the impact of the crisis both within Nigeria and across the continent, as seen on Reuters.
“What I can do is assure Nigerians … and most of West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa, we have the capacity to supply them,” he said during a tour of the facility located on the outskirts of Lagos.
He revealed that the refinery has already shipped about 17 cargoes of gasoline to other African countries. At the same time, exports of urea fertilizer have increased recently, as buyers search for alternative sources of supply.
“In the last couple of days, we’ve been looking to mostly African countries, which we were not doing before,” he said, referring to the fertilizer shipments, without providing specific figures.
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The refinery has the capacity to produce up to 3 million metric tons of urea annually, most of which is typically exported to the United States and South America, according to officials.
Despite the refinery operating at maximum output, fuel prices in Nigeria, an oil-producing nation, have climbed to record highs, based on industry data.
This suggests that increased refining capacity has not fully countered the effects of rising global crude prices. Dangote added that the refinery is seeking more crude supplies priced in local currency in an effort to reduce fuel costs.
Meanwhile, two trade sources and a refinery official told Reuters last week that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company is allocating seven crude cargoes for the Dangote refinery in May, an increase from five cargoes in previous months.
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