The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has officially reached its full nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd), marking a historic milestone for Africa’s energy independence and triggering optimistic forecasts for the Nigerian economy.
Management of the multi-billion-dollar facility confirmed on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, that the refinery achieved steady-state operations following the optimisation of its Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and Motor Spirit (MS) production block. The breakthrough makes it the first single-train refinery of this scale globally to reach 100% designed capacity.
Business mogul and Chairman of First Bank Group, Femi Otedola, hailed the achievement as a "transformational" moment for the continent. In a statement released via his official X handle, Otedola projected that the resulting conservation of foreign exchange would ease pressure on the currency market and strengthen the local legal tender.
“With domestic refining now firmly underway after decades of reliance on imports, pressure on the foreign exchange market should ease significantly,” Otedola stated. “I am optimistic that the naira will strengthen meaningfully, and trading below ₦1,000/$1 before year-end is increasingly within reach.”
The refinery is now positioned to deliver up to 75 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) daily to the domestic market. This surge in supply has already begun to impact local pricing, with the refinery recently slashing its ex-depot price from ₦799 to ₦774 per litre to reflect improved operational efficiencies.
David Bird, Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Refinery, noted that the facility is currently undergoing a 72-hour performance test run in collaboration with technology licensor UOP to validate its global standards. He emphasised that the seamless integration of the plant’s advanced engineering units demonstrates its long-term resilience.
Beyond the current milestone, Aliko Dangote has already initiated a $12 billion expansion project aimed at more than doubling the plant's output to 1.4 million barrels per day. The second phase also includes massive increases in petrochemical production, targeting 2.4 million tonnes of polypropylene and 400,000 metric tonnes of Linear Alkyl Benzene for the detergent industry.
The refinery’s shift to full capacity is expected to save Nigeria an estimated $10 billion annually in foreign exchange. Economists suggest that by eliminating the "landing cost" associated with imported fuel, the country is finally breaking a decades-long cycle of energy dependency.