Dangote’s fuel exports overtake domestic supply, hit 54.63 million litres daily

Exports of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery rose to 54.63 million litres per day in September 2026, exceeding the refinery’s combined domestic receipts of the three products for the month.

Data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority’s (NMDPRA) September 2026 Fact Sheet show that the refinery’s combined exports increased by 14.85 million litres per day from 39.78 million litres per day in August 2026, representing a month-on-month increase of 37.33%.

In contrast, the refinery’s combined domestic receipts declined by 22.08% to 39.98 million litres per day from 51.31 million litres per day in August.

This means exports exceeded domestic receipts by about 14.65 million litres per day in September, reversing the position in August, when domestic receipts were 11.53 million litres per day higher than exports.

In the fact sheet, the refinery’s output is split into three uses: domestic receipts, which are volumes received into the Nigerian market; exports; and changes in refinery stock. Domestic receipts and exports together make up the refinery’s evacuation.

The shift occurred even as the refinery increased output.

The 105.98% utilization rate was partly supported by crude inventory. According to NMDPRA, the September utilization rate implies a crude run of about 689,000 barrels per day, against 618,000 barrels per day of crude received. The regulator said the 71,000 barrels per day difference was drawn from refinery inventory.

A breakdown of the data shows how the shift played out across each product:

Aviation fuel exports drove the crossover, accounting for 87.44% of the refinery’s evacuation of the product in September. Although combined domestic receipts of petrol and diesel remained higher than their exports at 36.64 million litres per day against 31.38 million litres per day, the gap narrowed sharply from 29.76 million litres per day in August to 5.26 million litres per day in September.

The decline in the refinery’s domestic receipts coincided with a broader fall in national petrol and diesel receipts, which cover volumes received from both domestic refineries and imports.

Diesel receipts declined by 40% to 8.7 million litres per day, the lowest in the 13 months covered by the fact sheet, against average daily consumption of 14.5 million litres. NMDPRA attributed the low receipts to low imports and low domestic evacuation amid high prices.

In a previously reported article by Nairametrics, Nigeria’s daily petrol imports fell to 14.6 million litres in August 2026, while Dangote Refinery operated at 105.21% capacity utilization and exported 9.73 million litres of petrol per day.

This leaves a gap between output and availability as Dangote alone produced more petrol than the country consumed in September, yet national petrol stocks remained short of the regulator’s 30-day benchmark.

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