President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has revealed that his company turned down attempts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to acquire additional shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Dangote disclosed this during an interview with Nicolai Tangen, chief executive officer of Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, saying the decision was influenced by plans to eventually open ownership of the refinery to a broader range of Nigerian investors.
According to him, the NNPC already holds a 7.25 per cent stake in the refinery but sought to increase its equity participation.
“The national oil company already owns 7.25 per cent, and they are trying to buy more. We are the ones that said no because we want to spread ownership and allow more Nigerians to participate,” Dangote said.
The refinery, located in Lekki, Lagos, is valued at about $20bn and is regarded as Africa’s largest single-train refinery project.
The NNPC had initially agreed in 2021 to acquire a 20 per cent stake in the facility for $1bn, with an option to complete the balance of the investment later. However, the state-owned oil company eventually reduced its stake to 7.25 per cent after failing to complete the full payment.
Dangote had previously disclosed in 2024 that the NNPC did not exercise the option to increase its stake before the agreed deadline expired.
The billionaire businessman also said the group plans to allow future investors in its businesses to earn dollar-denominated dividends due to the company’s export-driven earnings structure.
He explained that major segments of the group’s operations, including fertiliser, petrochemicals and refining, now generate substantial foreign exchange revenues.
The comments came as new data indicated that petrol supply from local refineries rose significantly in the first quarter of 2026, while imports declined sharply.
According to figures from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, local refinery supply reached 3.18 billion litres between January and March 2026, while petrol imports dropped to 965.52 million litres during the same period.
Industry records show that the Dangote refinery is currently the dominant supplier of locally refined petrol in Nigeria.
The figures suggest that domestic refining accounted for more than three-quarters of total petrol supply during the quarter, reflecting a major shift from Nigeria’s long-standing dependence on imported fuel.
Despite the increase in local refining, however, total petrol supply during the quarter was slightly lower than the corresponding period of 2025.
Dangote also said the refinery had benefited from rising global energy prices linked to the ongoing conflict involving the United States and Iran.
According to him, demand for products such as fertiliser, aviation fuel and polypropylene increased sharply following disruptions in global supply chains.
“In February, before the Middle East crisis, urea was selling for about $400 a tonne. Today we are selling a tonne of fertiliser for $850,” he said.
He added that global polypropylene prices had surged considerably, while aviation fuel demand remained strong.
Dangote disclosed that the refinery is currently processing crude oil above its installed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, saying output had reached 661,000 barrels daily.
He also revealed that the company sources crude oil from Nigeria as well as Angola, Libya and the United States.
Looking ahead, Dangote said the group plans to expand refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day within the next 30 months as part of broader expansion targets aimed at increasing annual revenues to $100bn by 2030.
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