Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Mr. David Bird has declared that the planet will be the ultimate beneficiary if the scale and efficiency of the 650,000 barrels per day Lagos-based facility forces older, smaller, and less-efficient refineries to shut down.
This comes as the Chairman of Geometric Power Group, Prof. Barth Nnaji bemoaned the ugly state of the Nigerian electricity sector, stating that the country has not financed any major power generating plant in 11 years after the government scrapped key risk guarantees that once attracted global investors.
Bird argued that global refining must get cleaner and more efficient, and that Africa should not be left behind in that shift.
The Australian CEO of the Dangote Refinery expressed his incredible pride “of being part of the world’s youngest, most modern, most energy efficient, most automated, most data rich refinery.”
Bird said Africa has a moral obligation to move from energy poverty to energy abundance, and that the journey starts with clean fuels and pursuing the energy efficiency of the entirety of the energy mix.
He welcomed new refining projects across Africa, saying it will be absolute industrialisation if there’s anyone to continue to pursue refining.
He argued that any country that is blessed with natural resources should always look to do the processing and the maximum value capture that comes from that raw material, not just export the raw material for processing in another location.
Bird confirmed that the refinery is now operating at its full capacity of 650,000 barrels a day, more than meeting the country’s demands, not only of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), but obviously of diesel and jet fuel, and that any surplus of that is getting exported.
Bird reaffirmed Dangote’s “Africa first” export policy for surplus volumes, saying they were proud to have done a direct delivery to Ethiopian Airlines, and will continue to export their product in surplus to Nigeria’s requirements to neighbouring neighbouring African countries.
He said they have done that to more than 11 African countries to date since the war began.
According to him, while sales are on an FOB basis to a wide variety of counterparties, the company has tried to direct and ensure that those surplus molecules were given to African countries as a priority.
On actual volume of petroleum products supplied to domestic market by Dangote Refinery, Bird pointed to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA)’s March 2026 fact sheet, which now separates refinery production from domestic supply.
On the recent World Bank’s suggestions for a cushion amid high prices, Bird said the refinery’s role is processing at arm’s length global benchmarks and that decision to introduce subsidy or whatever cushioning policy lies with the government.
Bird concluded that Africa must be agnostic to a certain technology and focus on energy freedom — using the best available tools to end energy poverty while raising overall efficiency.
Peter Uzoho
