KEY POINTS
- Dangote Refinery’s main gasoline-producing unit has restarted and is operating at about 90 percent capacity, processing around 196,000 barrels per day.
- The unit resumed operations after a planned maintenance shutdown that lasted from December 2025 to February 2026.
- The development is expected to support Nigeria’s efforts to increase local fuel production and reduce reliance on imported petrol.
Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery has restarted one of its most important processing units and is now operating it at about 90 percent of its capacity, marking a significant step toward full operations at Africa’s largest oil refinery.
The refinery’s residue fluid catalytic cracking unit, commonly known as the RFCC, is currently processing about 196,000 barrels of crude per day. The unit was designed to handle up to 218,000 barrels daily.
The restart comes after a planned maintenance shutdown that lasted from December 2025 to February 2026. Since the unit resumed operations, the refinery has been gradually increasing production levels.
Energy analysts say the development strengthens Nigeria’s efforts to reduce dependence on imported petrol and expand domestic refining capacity.
Critical unit for petrol production
The RFCC unit plays a central role in the refinery’s gasoline production. It converts heavy crude oil residues that are usually left after initial refining into lighter and more valuable products such as petrol.
The process relies on catalytic cracking technology that breaks down complex hydrocarbon molecules into smaller ones that can be used as fuel.
At its current operating level, the unit is estimated to produce between 88,000 and 98,000 barrels of gasoline daily.
The RFCC is part of the refinery’s larger 650,000 barrels per day complex, making the facility one of the biggest refining installations in the world.’
The unit was taken offline late last year for scheduled maintenance and technical inspections.
During the shutdown, engineers carried out several key operations including catalyst replacement, inspection of high-temperature components, servicing of heat exchangers and calibration of instrumentation systems used to monitor refinery processes.
Maintenance cycles for catalytic cracking units of this size typically occur every two to three years in order to maintain operational efficiency and prevent costly breakdowns.
Although the RFCC unit is now operating near capacity, the entire refinery is still in the process of gradually scaling up production.
Current estimates suggest that the refinery as a whole is operating at around 45 to 50 percent of its total capacity.
Other processing units responsible for finishing gasoline production are also undergoing phased restarts following maintenance work earlier in the year.
These include the naphtha hydrotreater, isomerisation unit and catalytic reformer. Together, these systems refine intermediate products into finished petrol that meets commercial fuel standards
