The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is planning to expand its crude processing flexibility to as many as 130 different crude grades.

The refinery, which recently reached its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is also preparing for a major capacity expansion that will double output and significantly widen its crude sourcing options beyond Nigeria’s domestic supply base.

The Chief Executive Officer of the refinery, David Bird, disclosed this in an interview with S&P Global Energy, describing the facility as a fully merchant-style refinery built to compete with global trading hubs rather than a conventional single-feed crude processing plant.

“This is not a traditional refinery in an oil-producing country that just sits at the end of a crude pipeline and processes one crude. This is a fully merchant refining model that you could see in Europe or Asia,” Bird was quoted as saying in the interview, obtained by our correspondent on Friday.

Bird told S&P Global that the refinery currently processes around 40 crude grades but is strategically positioned to expand that number significantly as it scales operations, with a long-term target of about 130 crude types comparable to some of the world’s most complex refining hubs, such as Singapore’s Pulau Bukom refinery.

According to him, the expansion will allow the refinery to move deeper into crude blending operations and take advantage of a wider range of global supply sources, including Middle Eastern, US, and heavier crude grades.

“We will be in the crude blending game. So, you can easily imagine at 1.4 million bpd, we could process 30 per cent Middle Eastern grades on each train,” he said.

Bird also highlighted the refinery’s cost structure, noting that operating expenses are expected to decline further as scale efficiencies kick in following the expansion.

According to the report, industry projections tied to the $10bn expansion programme indicate that operating costs could fall below $2 per barrel, strengthening the refinery’s position as one of the world’s lowest-cost large-scale refineries.

The planned expansion, it was said, will raise capacity to about 1.4 million b/d, equivalent to nearly 90 per cent of Nigeria’s current crude oil output, forcing the facility to rely more heavily on imported crude streams, including US WTI Midland, alongside domestic supply.

Bird said the refinery’s flexibility is central to its long-term competitiveness in an increasingly volatile global energy market.

The Dangote refinery, located in the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos, is also integrating petrochemical units and logistics infrastructure as part of a wider industrial expansion aimed at turning the complex into a global energy hub comparable to major refining centres in Asia and the Middle East.

As part of its expansion strategy, the company is also developing regional infrastructure, including tank farms and potential pipeline linkages across Africa, to improve fuel distribution and export efficiency.

The refinery’s management has maintained that its long-term goal is to position Nigeria as a net exporter of refined petroleum products while competing directly with established global refining and trading hubs.

After the Middle East war began, Dangote shifted to what was termed “max jet mode”, and in April, it became the world’s single largest exporter of aviation fuel, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data.

The refinery is also producing 200 per cent of its petrol potential by importing blending components like GTL naphtha and Bonny condensate, Bird said.

As such, it can “comfortably” make 75 million litres per day (about 650,000 b/d) and could do 100 million l/d with better storage infrastructure, he added.