Nigeria's Dangote Refinery will begin full-capacity testing in February

A senior executive at Nigeria's Dangote Refinery said that the facility will start performance testing?runs? in February, after it has completed planned maintenance. This is a crucial step to ensuring a steady operation throughout the year.

Africa's biggest oil refinery started operations in 2024. It has run at 450,000 to 485,000 bpd since its startup phase due to difficulties obtaining enough local crude during the ramp-up period.

Operating the $20 billion refinery to full capacity would reduce Nigeria's fuel bill, lower pressure on the naira by reducing demand for dollar and change regional fuel flows since West African countries will likely import more fuel from Nigeria.

The Dangote Refinery aims to change this. Although Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer, it relies heavily on imported fuel.

David Bird, the refinery's managing director, said that the plant is now expected to run at full capacity consistently throughout 2026.

He said: "We have completed all the planned maintenance on our critical equipment and will be conducting performance tests at full capacity in February." This is the year that we maintain full nameplate capacity.

Bird stated that the plant's capacity is 650,000 barrels per day, but there is enough design margin to increase it to 700,000.000 bpd if insurers are satisfied with its performance. He said: "I do not want it to be misunderstood. Our insurance today is 650,000 bpd." "But we believe the design can support a 700,000 barrels per day, and we will engage with the insurance market when we prove that." He said that large greenfield refineries typically undergo a ramp up period of 18-24 months after startup. This includes an early maintenance stop to "iron out the bugs" prior to moving into stable commercial operation. He stated that the crude distillation unit had been operating reliably and safely since January 2024.

(source: Reuters)