Nigeria Tops West Africa’s Crude Refining as Regional Competition Intensifies

By Naija Enquirer Staff

Nigeria is expanding its crude refining footprint amid growing asset acquisition and development efforts by other West African countries, positioning itself as the region’s dominant refining hub.

West Africa is increasingly evolving into a regional refining and trading centre, supported by state-backed initiatives aimed at achieving refined product self-sufficiency and boosting export capacity.

The pace of change in 2026 will largely depend on the performance of existing and emerging refining projects, notably Nigeria’s 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery alongside several smaller plants.

The Dangote Refinery continues to reshape both regional and global refined product markets, significantly reducing West Africa’s dependence on imports. Since Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, production began in September 2024, Nigeria—previously the region’s largest petrol importer—has seen net petrol imports fall sharply.

Data from Kpler show that net petrol imports dropped to a historic low of about 40,000 barrels per day in September 2025, down from 332,000 barrels per day a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s net middle distillate exports reached a record 145,000 barrels per day in July, up from 82,000 barrels per day year-on-year. According to Argus Media, Nigeria has broadly remained a net exporter of middle distillates since May 2024.

As a result, Nigeria and the wider West African region are importing significantly less petrol and middle distillates such as jet fuel.

Year-to-date figures indicate that petrol imports across the region—from Mauritania to Angola—have fallen by about 25 percent to 337,000 barrels per day, while jet fuel imports have declined sharply to around 4,000 barrels per day, the lowest levels since at least 2016 when Kpler records began.

Dangote Refinery has transformed regional oil product dynamics, maintaining resilience through multiple maintenance cycles and retaining capacity to capture a larger share of Nigeria’s domestic petrol market in the coming year.

However, Nigeria’s state-owned refining assets have faced setbacks. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) restarted a 60,000 barrels-per-day section of the 210,000 barrels-per-day Port Harcourt refinery in late 2024, only to shut it again in May 2025. Similarly, the 125,000 barrels-per-day Warri refinery resumed operations in December 2024 before going offline a month later.

These challenges highlight the difficulties of rehabilitating long-dormant refining facilities across the West African coast.

Elsewhere in the region, other countries are expanding refining capacity to meet domestic demand and reduce reliance on imports. Angola’s 30,000 barrels-per-day Cabinda refinery is operational, producing mainly petrol and jet fuel for local consumption. The facility, a joint venture between UK-based Gemcorp and state-owned Sonangol, currently meets about 10 percent of Angola’s domestic demand.

Cabinda’s second phase, which will include gasoline production, is not expected before 2028. Between January and August, Angola imported roughly 20,000 barrels per day of petrol and about 40,000 barrels per day of diesel and gasoil, according to Kpler.

In Ghana, efforts continue to restore the 45,000 barrels-per-day Tema Oil Refinery to full capacity. Privately owned facilities, including the 120,000 barrels-per-day Sentuo Oil Refinery and smaller modular plants such as Platon and Akwaaba, have operated intermittently.

The prospects of Ghana’s larger Petroleum Hub Development Corporation projects appear uncertain, with planned construction of three 300,000 barrels-per-day refineries reportedly delayed following political transitions earlier this year.

With long lead times typical of large-scale refining investments, operating and near-complete refineries in Nigeria, Angola and Ghana are expected to remain central to West Africa’s downstream ambitions in 2026.