The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has commenced night-time loading operations as it intensifies efforts to sustain a daily supply of more than 50 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) across Nigeria, signalling a major shift to full 24-hour operations at Africa’s largest refinery.

The move comes as the refinery continues to ramp up production, stabilise logistics, and strengthen fuel security, while countering speculation around maintenance activities and supply disruptions. Originally designed for daytime evacuation, the facility has now expanded loading to night hours to ensure that rising output is matched with uninterrupted offtake.

Speaking during a press briefing at the refinery on Wednesday, the Managing Director, David Bird, said the transition to round-the-clock loading had become necessary to meet market demand and improve turnaround time for product evacuation.

According to him, the refinery is now meeting the 50 million litres daily petrol requirement in both production and evacuation.

“What I’m incredibly proud of is that, in the second half of 2025, while we were still ramping up capacity of our conversion units and downstream units, we were still able to deliver 50 million litres a day, more frankly than 52 million litres on some occasions,” Bird said.

He added, “We’re already doing nighttime loading. So it’s a 24-hour operation. We have celebrated over 50 million litres of offtake as well, which means over a thousand trucks progressing through the gate and through the gantry. Really learning and continuously improving our logistics and our turnaround time of getting those trucks through.”

Bird emphasised that sustaining high output is not only about production but also efficient offtake. “It’s volatile. We see a dip on weekends and so forth. It all depends on demand and available stocks; if not, we can export. But for me, the primary objective is to demonstrate that we can continue to produce over 50 million litres a day and then see where true market demand in Nigeria lies.”

He linked stable supply to economic activity, noting, “Having a lower price and an abundance of supplies will stimulate demand, which is a good thing. That will continue to stimulate economic activity by having stable, affordable, clean fuels available. I do expect the demand to increase as a result of this stability and abundance of our product.”

Bird also highlighted the refinery’s operational flexibility, explaining that it can maintain output even during planned maintenance. “We have continued to deliver 50 million litres a day. We have built this flexibility into our system so that individual units can be taken out for maintenance and still meet finished product demand,” he said.

The MD described the Dangote refinery as a highly flexible merchant refinery, capable of producing petrol through multiple routes, including crude processing, intermediate feedstocks, and blending components.

“This is not just a single crude processing plant. It is a very flexible, resilient production process where we can make our finished product from crude, from intermediates through our conversion and treatment units, or by bringing in blending components,” Bird said.

This flexibility, he added, allows the refinery to supply the Nigerian market consistently while maintaining export capability, a requirement for operating on a global merchant refining scale.

“We have the requirement to be able to always export our finished product. By definition, that means we have to make world-quality fuels and ensure that we can land our product competitively anywhere in the world. We must make sure our production is compliant with Euro-5 gasoline and diesel,” he said.

Bird also credited the refinery with transforming Nigeria’s fuel market. “Nigeria has gone from fuel scarcity to fuel abundance. Beyond volume, we are supplying cleaner, Euro V-compliant fuels, ending West Africa’s long-standing reputation as a dumping ground for substandard petroleum products.”

He added that domestic refining is key to price stability. “If you are fully import-dependent, you are exposed to global market fluctuations. Having domestic production drives a level of insulation from global volatility in both crude and product prices,” he explained.

The refinery boss concluded that while exports remain an option, prioritising the domestic market is central to sustaining supply, stabilising prices, and supporting economic activity nationwide.

“We are committed to maintaining 24-hour operations to meet domestic demand, ensure fuel security, and provide a stable supply to the Nigerian market,” Bird said.