Sources familiar with the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP) said the 700,000-bpd capacity facility has taken a hard-line position to stop the sale of its Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol to major products marketers who continue to import petrol into Nigeria, and are allegedly blending their imported PMS with Dangote’s.
One credible source said Dangote refinery alleged that some marketers were allegedly blending substandard imported PMS with petrol purchased from Dangote refinery, before distributing it to the domestic market, making it difficult to distinguish refinery-supplied product from third-party blends.
Just last week, the $20 billion refiner warned over rising petrol imports into the Nigerian market, accounting for up to 43.3 percent of the market share, despite the refinery’s optimum production of more than enough petrol (and other products) for domestic consumption, forcing it to export surplus products abroad.
In particular, the refinery said due to rising petrol imports by importers licenced by Nigeria’s ministry of petroleum resources and the national oil company, NNPC Limited, domestic demand has become hard to predict.
David Bird, chief executive officer of the refinery had told Reuters that imports of PMS supplied 43 percent of Nigeria’s petrol in July 2026, up sharply from about 12 percent in May this year.
As a result, the situation has potentially added a new twist to Nigeria’s uncertain petroleum trade.
Our source said the refinery decided to ban PMS sales to major marketers who are still importing petrol into the country, citing concerns over product quality, market transparency and brand integrity.
Industry watchers say the new stiff measure could take effect immediately, in a country with substantial domestic refining capacity, yet the petroleum ministry and NNPCL Limited issue licences to major marketers, which have continued to spearhead the entry of imported PMS into the local market.
“It is difficult to understand why we would invest heavily in producing high-quality petroleum products for Nigerians, only for those products to be mixed with imported products of uncertain quality, and the resulting product to be associated with our refinery,” the source said.
Our correspondent was told that the Dangote Refinery’s position is to forestall the unprofessional practice of some major marketers that were in the habit of allegedly blending substandard imported PMS with product purchased from Dangote Refinery and distributing same to the local market, which makes it difficult to distinguish Dangote refinery-supplied petrol from third-party blends.
The Lekki Lagos-based Africa’s largest refinery also cited the absence of a standard regulatory laboratory and quality control infrastructure to independently verify and certify imported petroleum products entering the Nigerian market.
All this is happening at a period Nigeria’s petroleum downstream sector has shifted from years of import-dependence to significant domestic refining courtesy Dangote Refinery.
The $20 billion refiner with capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, has been supplying both the local and international markets with products meeting recognised global quality specifications.
Just recently, the U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA) described Dangote refinery as a major driver of Nigeria’s seaborne petroleum product exports, which averaged 561,000 barrels per day in the second quarter of 2026, up from an annual average of 79,000 barrels per day in 2023.
In addition, the refinery’s jet fuel supply has gained traction and has become a major direct supplier to the United States and Europe. In mid-2026, the refinery overtook the United States to become Europe’s largest external provider of jet fuel. In June, Dangote shipped roughly 466,000 tons of aviation fuel, and over 400,000 tons in July, capturing about one-fifth of Europe’s total jet fuel imports.
Meanwhile, the current global shipping disruptions and Middle East supply constraints has allowed the 700,000 bpd refining facility to capture major international market share.
