NNPC Ltd Group Chief Executive Officer Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari visited the Dangote Refinery in Lagos on Saturday, describing the $20 billion facility as a national achievement every Nigerian should celebrate.
Ojulari toured the refinery alongside Aliko Dangote, founder and chairman of the Dangote Group. The visit was confirmed by both organisations.
“You have done what many thought was impossible,” Ojulari said, addressing Dangote directly during the visit. The statement was a public endorsement from Nigeria’s top oil official of a privately built refinery that has reshaped the country’s energy conversation since it began operations in 2024.
The Dangote Refinery is Africa’s largest single-train refinery. Since coming online in 2024, it has reduced Nigeria’s dependence on imported refined petroleum products, a dependency that cost the country billions of dollars annually in foreign exchange.
For ordinary Nigerians, that matters. Fuel import costs have long been cited as a driver of pump price increases and pressure on the naira. A functional domestic refinery with this capacity changes that equation, at least partially.
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NNPC holds an equity stake in the refinery. Saturday’s visit signals that the relationship between Nigeria’s national oil company and the facility is being actively deepened, not managed at arm’s length.
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Dangote used the occasion to announce plans for a new petrochemical plant designed to supply markets across Africa. No commissioning date was confirmed publicly. Africentra has not independently verified the project timeline or capital commitment for the new facility.
Both sides discussed expanded cooperation on crude supply arrangements. No signed agreement was announced at the time of the visit.
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The Dangote Refinery cost $20 billion to build, making it one of the largest single private infrastructure investments in African history. It has a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day at full output, according to the Dangote Group. Nigeria currently produces roughly 1.5 million barrels per day, though actual output has historically fallen below that figure.
The details of any expanded crude supply agreement between NNPC and the Dangote Refinery have not been made public. The timeline and financing for the announced petrochemical plant remain unconfirmed. It is not confirmed whether Saturday’s visit will result in a formal memorandum of understanding or binding commercial terms.
