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 ...
Nigeria's petroleum exports via seaborne trade have skyrocketed sevenfold since 2023, with the opening of the Dangote refinery in January 2024 playing a pivotal role, data from Vortexa shows. In the second quarter of 2026 alone, seaborne petroleum product shipments averaged 561,000 barrels per day (b/d), a stark contrast to the annual average of just 79,000 b/d in 2023.
With the Dangote refinery's capacity expanded from 650,000 b/d to 700,000 b/d after maintenance in February 2026, Nigeria's seaborne imports dropped significantly, decreasing from nearly 400,000 b/d in 2023 to less than 130,000 b/d by the second quarter of 2026. The Dangote Group anticipates doubling its refinery capacity to 1.5 million b/d by 2028.
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