Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reduced production after maintenance work disrupted operations at Africa’s largest refinery, curbing exports of refined fuel just months after the facility emerged as an increasingly important supplier to markets in Africa and Europe.
According to commodity intelligence firm Kpler, crude processing at the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery has fallen to between 350,000 and 400,000 barrels per day since July 10, prompting the firm to lower its July throughput forecast to about 450,000 barrels per day, from an earlier estimate of 650,000 barrels.
The reduction follows maintenance involving the refinery’s Flue Gas Steam Generator (FGSG), a heat recovery system that has constrained operations across the plant.
Kpler said the latest disruption differs from previous outages because it is not directly linked to the refinery’s residue fluid catalytic cracker, which has historically been the facility’s main operational bottleneck.
The lower processing rates are expected to reduce July production by around 75,000 barrels per day of gasoline, 50,000 barrels per day of jet fuel and 40,000 barrels per day of gasoil, according to Kpler’s estimates.
