After Farouk Ahmed’s Exit, Dangote Refinery Raises In-country Petrol Supply by 65%

• Contribution jumps to 32m litres per day from 19.4m litres

•Aliko confirms changes, puts current supply at 50m litres daily

• Seeks backing for Tinubu to achieve $1tn economy by 2030

•Announces expansion of cement production capacity to 90m tonnes

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja and Dike Onwuamaeze, Peter Uzoho in Lagos

The Dangote Refinery boosted its domestic petrol supply by 65 per cent in December, increasing output from 19.4 million litres per day to over 32 million litres daily, latest data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said yesterday.

However, the jump in local supply by a huge margin in less than one month by the Dangote Refinery followed the exit of the erstwhile Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed.

Incidentally, on the day the data was released, the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, confirmed the increased supply, but said that the facility has now raised  loading to an average of 50 million litres daily since President Bola Tinubu effected the leadership change at the agency.

Ahmed had had a running battle with the President of the Dangote Group over what the billionaire businessman termed the unrestrained granting of import licenses by the former NMDPRA chief executive despite growing local capacity.

The matter got to a head when Africa’s richest man accused Ahmed of corrupt enrichment and reported him to the anti-graft agencies, a development that coincided with the formal resignation of the NMDPRA head in mid December.

But according to the NMDPRA data released yesterday, the Dangote Refinery’s domestic petrol supply increased from 19.47 million litres per day in November to 32.01 million litres per day in December, a jump of about 65 per cent in just one month. Also, the national petrol sufficiency rose markedly.

Besides, the rise in Dangote’s fuel output coincided with improvements in national fuel stock levels. Petrol stock sufficiency climbed to 29.20 days in December, compared with 16.65 days in November, providing a stronger buffer against supply disruptions and distribution bottlenecks.

A THISDAY analysis showed that the 32 million litres in-country petrol supply as well as the 29 days local PMS sufficiency in December were the highest in the whole of 2025, highlighting how much things changed during the period under consideration.

In all, the NMDPRA fact sheet showed that daily consumption of petrol climbed to 63.7 million litres per day in December, up from 52.9 million litres per day in November, representing a month-on-month increase of about 20.4 per cent.

The surge marked one of the strongest monthly consumption jumps recorded in 2025, reflecting higher transportation demand, festive-season mobility, and improved product availability across the country.

At the same time, total domestic petrol supply increased from 71.5 million litres per day in November to 74.2 million litres per day in December, helping to ease pressure on fuel distribution channels and improve national stock levels.

The NMDPRA data indicated that consumption growth outpaced supply growth in percentage terms, underscoring the importance of maintaining steady refinery output and efficient distribution networks.

But the supply of diesel by the domestic market declined from 20.4 million litres per day in November to 17.9 million litres per day in December, even as daily consumption increased slightly from 15.4 million litres per day to 16.4 million litres per day.

In contrast, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) domestic supply edged up from 5.0 metric tonnes per day in November to 5.2 metric tonnes per day in December, reflecting steady growth in household cooking gas adoption.

Also, domestic natural gas supply recorded a marginal increase, rising from 4.684 billion standard cubic feet per day (Bscf/d) in November to 4.787 Bscf/d in December, supporting power generation and industrial activity.

Beyond Dangote’s contribution, the NMDPRA reported continued progress on other refining projects. The Waltersmith Refinery Train 2, with a capacity of 5,000 barrels per day, it said , completed pre-commissioning activities in December, with hydrocarbons expected to be introduced by January 2026.

The Authority also confirmed the issuance of one Licence to Establish (LTE) and one Licence to Construct (LTC) during the period, signalling sustained investor interest in Nigeria’s refining and downstream infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the President of the Dangote Group has disclosed the refinery located in Lagos has been loading an average of 50 million litres every day since Tinubu effected a leadership change at the regulatory agency.

Dangote disclosed this on Wednesday during the Dangote Cement’s customers’ celebration and award night for distributors of Dangote Cement’s product in Lagos with the theme “Partner for Growth.”

At the same event, Dangote Cement Plc also celebrated its top distributors and customers with N15 billion worth of rewards for their continued loyalty, resilience, and outstanding performance.

At the 2026 Distributors’ Awards Night, held in Lagos under the theme: “Partner for Growth”, the company celebrated its highest-performing partners.” Recipients received an impressive array of gifts, including cash prizes, containers of cement, high-end SUVs, and compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered trucks, all valued at N15 billion.

Dangote stressed: “We need to support the programme of Tinubu to make sure we enable Nigeria to reach its target of a $1 trillion economy by 2030. In the past couple of days we have had a sense of peace when His Excellency, President Tinubu, threw away most of the corrupt people who are actually our own regulators.

“Right now, the good news is that since December 17 we have actually been doing an average of 50 million litres of loading of our inventory every day.”

He also elaborated on the Dangote Group’s Vision 2030 that is aimed at making the group a $100 billion enterprise by 2030.

“In December 2025 we launched our Vision 2030. It is focused on consolidation, industrial expansion, and cross border investments that will deepen Africa’s self-sufficiency in critical sectors such as energy, manufacturing and infrastructure.

“This is borne out of my conviction that Africa’s future will be built by Africans who refuse to accept limits. People who dream big work hard and never stop believing in what is possible. Under this vision our cement will be producing 90 million tonnes by 2030, which means that we are 50 per cent more than the entire production of Saudi Arabia.

‘‘Under this same vision we have already signed an agreement to expand our petroleum refinery from 650,000 million barrels per day (mbpd) to 1.4 million bpd. The good news is that we are starting the foundation next week. This is to double our (refinery’s) production capacity and take advantage of economies of scale.

“At 1.4mbpd, we will be 48 per cent of the entire refining capacity of Saudi Arabia that started in 1936,” Dangote said.

He also said that the group is expanding its fertiliser plant from 3 million metric tonnes (mmt) to 12mmt per annum to make it the largest producer of urea in the entire world.

“We have actually carried out groundbreaking for the new fertiliser complex in Ethiopia and have signed an agreement to build tank farms in Namibia for the storage of our refined products. We are building a massive pipeline to control and also distribute products along many countries in southern and eastern Africa.

“We are planning a backward integration in sugar in Ghana alongside several investments in Ethiopia in sugar,” he added.

Dangote said the gathering was to celebrate and honour the distinguished distributors of Dangote Cement’s products for their dedication, resilience and drive in 2025.

He said: “I consider it a great honour to stand before a determined and focused group of people who are not only our cherished distributors but the very heart beat of our organisation.

Your tireless work in the field; your unalloyed loyalty to our products and your direct engagement with our customers are what turn our vision and strategies into a tangible result.

“Our celebration today tagged ‘Partner for Growth’ is a clear testament that our growth journey to 2026 has already begun. It is, therefore, time to intensify our efforts in the business of distributing our range of cement products.

“Distinguished distributors, we will continue to invest heavily in the Nigerian economy to create the necessary linkages that will drive the establishment of more industries, and provide more jobs to our teeming youths. We need to support the programme of Tinubu to make sure we enable Nigeria to reach its target of a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

“We will remain committed to strengthening the bond that has sustained our partnership. We are genuinely interested in seeing your business grow bigger, stronger and more profitable. I want to thank you for your resilience, trust and loyalty for providing right linkages between Dangote Cements and the end users,” Dangote said.

Dangote also hailed the distributors as the heartbeat of the organisation and praised their dedication in ensuring the Dangote products reach communities nationwide.

He used the occasion to reiterate the company’s ‘Vision 2030’ strategy, aimed at transforming the Dangote Group into a $100 billion enterprise by 2030. The plan, he explained, focuses on industrial expansion, cross-border investments, and building Africa’s self-sufficiency in sectors such as energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure.

The African industrial titan disclosed that the Dangote Cement Group is targeting a cement production capacity expansion to approximately 90 million tonnes by 2030. He emphasised that the company’s ambition goes far beyond building factories.