European

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has highlighted the impact of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery on the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) market in Europe.

The 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery, which began operations in January last year, started producing petrol in September.

This marked a significant shift for Nigeria, which had previously relied solely on fuel imports to meet domestic demand.

Since commencing production, the refinery has exported petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel to various countries across Africa and beyond.

In its report released on Wednesday, OPEC noted that the refinery’s operations have reduced Nigeria’s reliance on imported petroleum products from Europe. “The operational ramp-up at Nigeria’s Dangote refinery and its gasoline exports to international markets are likely to put further pressure on the European gasoline market,” the report stated.

It added, “The continued gasoline production in Nigeria, a country previously dependent on imports to meet domestic fuel needs, is expected to free up gasoline volumes in international markets, necessitating adjustments in flow and destinations for these surplus volumes.”

OPEC also observed that during the last quarter of 2024, Nigeria’s petroleum product imports declined, contributing to an improved outlook for its external sector.

The report noted that the gasoline crack spread in Rotterdam against Brent crude saw a slight increase due to healthy exports, despite high gasoline inventories in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp storage hub. However, it warned that these inventories are expected to grow further in the coming months, driven by lower seasonal demand and an oversupply in the Atlantic Basin.

OPEC cautioned that the recovery in gasoline refinery output could exacerbate the bearish sentiment in the gasoline market.

Meanwhile, the Monthly Oil Market Report revealed that Nigeria’s daily crude oil production averaged 1.507 million barrels per day (bpd) in December 2024, based on data from secondary sources. This marked an increase of 12,000 bpd from the 1.477 million bpd recorded in November. However, government-supplied figures put December’s output slightly lower at 1.485 million bpd, aligning with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s data.

The Dangote Refinery, valued at $20 billion, has been ranked among the largest in the world, surpassing the capacity of the 10 largest refineries in Europe, according to Bloomberg data.

With its 650,000-bpd refining capacity, the Dangote Refinery outpaces Europe’s largest refinery, Shell’s Pernis facility in the Netherlands, which has an installed capacity of 404,000 bpd.

Other European refineries mentioned in the report include BP’s Rotterdam refinery in the Netherlands (380,000 bpd), the GOI Energy ISAB refinery in Italy (360,000 bpd), and TotalEnergies’ Antwerp refinery in Belgium (338,000 bpd).

Additional facilities include the Orlen Plock refinery in Poland (327,000 bpd), Shell’s Rheinland refinery in Germany (327,000 bpd), the Miro refinery in Germany (310,000 bpd), and ExxonMobil’s Antwerp refinery in Belgium (307,000 bpd).