Chairman of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Aliko Dangote, has announced plans to sell between five and ten percent of the refinery’s shares on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited within the next one year.
Speaking in an interview with S&P Global, Dangote said the planned share sale would mirror the listing strategy adopted by other subsidiaries of the Dangote Group, including Dangote Cement and Dangote Sugar Refinery.
“We don’t want to keep more than 65 to 70 percent,” Dangote stated, noting that the shares would be offered gradually depending on investor appetite and prevailing market conditions.
The billionaire industrialist also revealed that the Group is in talks with strategic investors from the Middle East to support the refinery’s expansion and fund a new petrochemicals project in China.
“Our business concept is going to change. Now, instead of being 100 percent Dangote-owned, we’ll have other partners,” he added.
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Dangote further hinted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) could increase its stake in the refinery in the future.
The national oil company had earlier reduced its ownership to 7.2 percent, but Dangote said fresh discussions might be held once the refinery enters its next growth phase.
“I want to demonstrate what this refinery can do, then we can sit down and talk,” he said.
The Dangote Refinery, which commenced operations in 2024, plans to ramp up capacity from 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 700,000 bpd by the end of this year. The long-term target, according to Dangote, is to boost output to 1.4 million bpd, surpassing India’s Jamnagar Refinery, currently the world’s largest with 1.36 million bpd capacity.
Beyond fuel refining, the company is also expanding into chemical production, with plans to increase polypropylene output from one million to 1.5 million metric tonnes per year, and to launch new projects in base oils and linear alkylbenzene.
Dangote disclosed that most of the refinery’s technical issues have been resolved, although a one-month shutdown may still be required for final maintenance adjustments.
“We have resolved most, not all, but most of the problems. We’re now looking for a window when we can shut down for another month,” he explained, assuring that the maintenance would be carefully timed to avoid disruptions during the year-end fuel demand surge.