Dangote Refinery to End Crude Oil Imports by December 2025.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced plans to halt all crude oil imports by December 2025, transitioning entirely to Nigerian crude for its operations. The move is expected to eliminate the need for hundreds of thousands of barrels of imported oil daily.

According to Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Dangote Industries, existing contracts with international crude suppliers will expire by the end of the year, paving the way for the refinery to source all its crude domestically.

“We have been importing crude from countries like Brazil, Angola, Ghana, and Equatorial Guinea. However, improved collaboration between the refinery, local oil traders, and the Nigerian government will ensure a consistent supply of domestic crude,” Edwin said.

In June, the refinery received nearly half of its crude from Nigerian producers. With some of these producers nearing the end of their foreign supply obligations, they are expected to ramp up supply to the Dangote facility in the coming months.

“We anticipate that several long-term international contracts will expire. Personally, and as a company, we are confident that by year-end, we can fully transition to local crude,” Edwin added.

Bloomberg data revealed that in June, 53% of the refinery’s crude came from Nigerian producers, while 47% was imported from the United States. The refinery is currently processing about 550,000 barrels of crude per day.

For July and August, the refinery is scheduled to receive five cargoes each from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), with each cargo carrying nearly one million barrels.

Aliko Dangote, Chairman and founder of the $20 billion facility, built the refinery with the goal of ending the cycle of exporting Nigeria’s crude to Europe for refining, only to re-import it at higher costs.

While the facility initially relied on foreign crude due to domestic supply constraints, the ongoing ramp-up of operations is already shifting Nigeria toward becoming a net exporter of refined petroleum products. The refinery is gradually moving toward its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.

Dangote recently acknowledged that, despite a naira-for-crude arrangement, the refinery had been heavily dependent on U.S. crude supplies. However, with expectations of increased local availability, the company anticipates a complete transition to Nigerian crude in the near future.

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