Gasoline deliveries to Nigeria were a four-month high of 57,000 b/d in May, after bumper import permits were issued for the second quarter and market participants flagged maintenance works at independently-owned Dangote's 700,000 b/d Lekki refinery.
Gasoline exports from Nigeria were 23,000 b/d, of which Dangote-origin product accounted for 15,000 b/d. This meant Nigeria returned to net gasoline importer status in the month, after net exporting 49,000 b/d in April and 6,000 b/d in March, according to Kpler data.
Europe met all of Nigeria's May import requirements. Norwegian product accounted for 21,000 b/d, and Italian- and French-origin for 9,000 b/d and 8,000 b/d, respectively.
State-owned NNPC and Dangote bought in 11,000 b/d and 27,000 b/d respectively. The buyer or buyers of the remaining 19,000 b/d are unknown, according to Kpler. The data suggest Dangote is at once the country's top gasoline producer and importer. The refinery owner brought in 29,000 b/d of the 67,000 b/d total gasoline imports in January-May, according to Kpler.
Independent Nigerian marketers were legally entitled to exercise their import licenses in May. Downstream regulator NMDPRA issued 700,000t of permits for the second quarter to AA Rano, AYM Shafa, Bono, Matrix, Nipco and Pinnacle.
The Lekki refinery's roughly 218,000 b/d residual fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) was under maintenance in May, according to multiple sources. A Nigerian gasoline trader said the refinery bought naphtha and condensate for blending. Dangote was approached for comment.
Loadings of RFCC feedstock low-sulphur straight-run (LSSR) fuel oil from the refinery hit an eight-month high of 105,000 b/d in May, and 7,000 b/d of gasoline blending components were delivered to the plant in the month: 210,000 bl of cat-cracked gasoline, 85,000 bl of gasoline blendstock, and 135,000 bl of Bonny condensate, according to Kpler.
Blending component deliveries to the refinery hit a record 29,000 b/d in April.
Nigerian gasoline imports have been elevated so far in June, with license holders likely to exercise their allocations before expiry at month-end. AA Rano has landed 56,000 b/d, and NNPC has imported 121,000 b/d. The 177,000 b/d of gasoline cargo arrivals in June to date are three times higher than May and up from 140,000 b/d in June 2025.
Dangote Industries' told Argus this week it has upgraded the Lekki refinery's nameplate capacity to 700,000 b/d from 650,000 b/d, which could boost naphtha output capacity for eventual gasoline blending.
The refinery's planned expansion to 1.45mn b/d capacity may render Nigeria a permanent net exporter of gasoline as soon as December 2028. The new capacity would be a "copy-paste" version of the current Lekki plant's configuration, according to sources with knowledge of the matter, suggesting gasoline production capacity would double in the next 30 months.
