Dangote Refinery to Shut Down Crude Oil Distillation Unit For One Week
- Dangote Refinery to initiate one-week shutdown for operational fine-tuning amidst declining crude oil deliveries
- Regulators assure minimal impact on fuel supply despite brief CDU pause at Nigeria's largest refinery
- RFCC maintenance continues to challenge petrol output, highlighting the complexities of large refinery operations
Nigeria’s refining landscape is entering another critical phase as Africa’s largest refinery prepares for a brief but calculated pause.
The 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Petroleum Refinery is set to shut down its crude oil distillation unit (CDU) for about one week, a move that reflects operational fine-tuning rather than distress in a fuel-dependent economy.
Source: Getty Images
While any shutdown at the Lekki-based mega refinery tends to spark anxiety across the downstream market, industry data and regulatory assurances suggest the impact on fuel supply will be minimal.
Instead, the pause highlights the realities of crude availability and the careful balancing act required in ramping up a complex, world-scale facility.
Crude supply drives CDU pause
According to a refinery source quoted by Argus, the planned CDU outage could begin as early as next week. The timing follows a noticeable slowdown in crude oil deliveries to the refinery.
Shipping and flow data show that crude inflows averaged about 290,000 barrels per day in January, a sharp decline from roughly 440,000 bpd recorded in December.
In refining operations, the CDU serves as the backbone of the plant, separating crude oil into key feedstocks for downstream processing units. Running this unit below optimal levels can be inefficient and costly.
Industry observers say the temporary shutdown is therefore a strategic response to align throughput with available crude, while allowing other units to undergo maintenance and optimisation.
RFCC maintenance shapes petrol output
At the same time, Dangote Refinery is carrying out extensive work on its residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC), the facility’s main gasoline-producing unit.
The RFCC has been offline since December for planned maintenance, including upgrades to the combustion riser aimed at improving catalytic cracking efficiency when operations resume.
The unit is expected to return before the end of January, with any delays unlikely to extend beyond February.
Source: UGC
During the maintenance window, the refinery has sustained petrol production by blending outputs from other units such as the isomerisation, alkylation and reformer units.
Utilisation at the alkylation unit has risen to about 40 percent, up from 35 percent in October, signalling growing operational stability.
Fuel supply remains comfortable
Regulators have been quick to downplay fears of fuel shortages. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says Nigeria currently has 34 days of petrol stock, the highest level recorded since Dangote Refinery began operations.
Additional work on the naphtha hydrotreater has also been described as light and short-term, affecting only part of the unit, with a restart expected next week. Taken together, these developments point to a refinery still in its optimisation phase rather than one facing structural setbacks.
A learning curve for a mega refinery
For Nigeria’s downstream sector, the brief CDU shutdown underscores an important reality. Large, complex refineries rarely achieve steady-state operations without periodic pauses, adjustments and upgrades.
Dangote Refinery’s current actions suggest a facility learning in real time, tightening processes and building resilience for long-term stability.
Short-term shutdowns may dominate headlines, but within the industry, they are often the quiet steps that underpin sustainable, reliable refining capacity.
Dangote Refinery hits petrol production snag
Legit.ng earlier reported that the much-anticipated ramp-up of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has hit another hurdle, as persistent technical challenges at its petrol-producing unit continue to cap output and delay full stabilisation into the first half of 2026.
According to Kpler & IIR analysis and trade-flow data reviewed by Petroleumprice.ng, the refinery’s Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC) has emerged as the single biggest operational bottleneck, limiting gasoline production despite ample crude distillation capacity.
The 200,000-barrels-per-day RFCC has suffered repeated outages since April 2025.
Source: Legit.ng
