In a bid to sustain daily delivery of 50 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, across Nigeria, Dangote Refinery has begun 24-hour loading operations.
This shift is part of the refinery’s efforts to eliminate the long-standing issue of fuel scarcity in Nigeria by ensuring that the facility’s optimal production levels are matched by rapid, round-the-clock distribution.
Managing director of the Dangote Refinery, David Bird, who made the revelation during a press briefing at the refinery on Wednesday, said the refinery now loads both night and day.
He said the move became necessary given the need to meet market demand and improve turnaround time for product evacuation.
Bird said the 650,000 barrels per day refinery is currently meeting and sometimes exceeding the national daily demand for petrol (50 million litres per day). According to him, this has increased the facility’s capacity to evacuate over 1,000 trucks daily from its gantry.
“It is now a 24-hour operation,” Bird stated, adding “We have celebrated over 50 million litres of offtake as well, which means over a thousand trucks progressing through the gate and through the gantry.”
This comes as the refinery pushes to expand production from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million bpd and also strengthen logistics through the direct distribution model.
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The refinery had, in December 2025, announced a significant reduction in ex-gantry price of petrol from N828 to N699 per litre and subsequently announced a slash in pump price by its distribution partners, such as MRS, to N799. This move triggered a fresh wave of competition in the downstream petroleum market and what many described as a “price war” as NNPC and independent marketers involved in importation were forced to adjust petrol prices downward during the Yuletide season.
Bird observed that having a lower price and ensuring a steady supply to the market stimulates demands thereby boosting economic activities.
“We have continued to deliver 50 million litres a day. We have built this flexibility into our system so that individual units can be taken out for maintenance and still meet finished product demand,” Dangote Refinery MD stated.
He stated that the $20 billion refinery has all it takes to export its products to any part of the world as it produces Euro V-compliant petrol and diesel, (a world standard for fuels).
Highlighting the benefits of domestic refining, he emphasized that it insulates a nation from global market fluctuations in prices of crude refined products, while depending on import exposes it to such realities.
He further stated that the refinery currently prioritises domestic supply to boost the drive for energy security in the country.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist, scholar and analyst of socioeconomic issues in Nigeria and Africa. He is skilled in energy reporting, business and economy, and holds a master's degree in mass communication.
