- Dangote Refinery has diversified crude supply by importing Ghana’s Sankofa grade, which operates at about 450,000 bpd.
- Dangote denied RFCC issues amid rising fuel imports and looming competition from Cameroon’s Limbe Refinery.
Dangote Refinery sourced crude oil from Ghana for the first time, reflecting its strategy to diversify supplies amid ongoing questions over operational setbacks.
The $20 billion mega-project, projected to transform fuel supply across West Africa, currently processes an estimated 450,000 barrels per day (kbd), equivalent to about 70 per cent of its nameplate capacity, according to a report by global insights firm Kpler released yesterday. This marks an increase from roughly 400 kbd, or 60 per cent, in the first quarter but still falls short of full-capacity expectations.
Dangote incorporated Ghana’s Sankofa grade, a medium-sweet crude with 29 API and 0.3 per cent sulphur content, signalling its growing appetite for supply flexibility. Kpler noted that refinery receipts in August included five Nigerian Suezmaxes, two U.S. Very Large Crude Carriers, and one Ghanaian cargo. Brass River crude, absent for nearly a year, also returned to the refinery’s slate, highlighting continued diversification beyond traditional Nigerian and American light sweet grades.
Kpler reported that intake volumes in August fell to roughly 450 kbd from July’s record 570 kbd. The agency attributed the decline to ongoing maintenance at the refinery’s Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (RFCCU). Dangote Industries, however, denied technical difficulties. Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer Anthony Chiejina called RFCC setback reports “untrue” and “speculative” and stated that refinery operations proceed as planned. However, he did not immediately confirm imports from Ghana.
Earlier, a senior refinery executive told S&P Global’s Platts that work on the RFCC had concluded and the unit would resume normal output by August 24. S&P Global reported a surge in gasoline imports into West Africa during the temporary outage, with nearly one million tonnes shipped from Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean in the past 30 days, 65 per cent of which landed in Lomé, Togo.
While Dangote’s capacity continues to grow, operational reliability remains uncertain, and sources indicated that the RFCC restart was expected in early September. Meanwhile, Cameroon’s Sonara announced plans to partially restore its long-idle Limbe Refinery by 2027 after an eight-year outage caused by fire, potentially increasing competition for Dangote and other regional refiners.