Refinery delays contribute to Abuja’s fuel challenge

Nigeria’s downstream status quo changed forever with the end of fuel subsidies, but the flagship Dangote refinery has still yet to start operations

May was a critical month for Nigeria, with the election of President Bola Tinubu and the official inauguration of the mammoth Dangote refinery near Lagos. But while months later the refinery has yet to begin operations, government reforms have already turned the country’s downstream sector upside down.  There has been a persistent lack of clear information emerging from the 650,000b/d refinery project. Prior reports of Dangote starting operations have "always been a bit exaggerated”, said Andon Pavlov, lead analyst for dirty products and refining at data analytics firm Kpler, adding that “we currently anticipate a gradual launch towards the end of Q1 or early Q2 [next year], with a lot of qu