Nigeria's Dangote refinery becomes Europe's top jet fuel supplier

In June 2026 the Lagos‑based Dangote refinery shipped about 466,000 tonnes of jet fuel to Europe, overtaking the United States as the continent’s largest external supplier for the first time. The volume nearly doubled from May and was valued at roughly US$553 million. The refinery’s Lekki complex, the world’s largest single‑train plant, processes around 650,000 barrels of crude per day and has been running at record throughput of 660,000 b/d, helping cut West Africa’s clean‑product imports by almost 25 % year‑on‑year.

Dangote plans to expand capacity to 1.45 million b/d, which would make it the world’s largest refinery, surpassing Reliance’s Jamnagar complex. The expansion includes a new 750,000 b/d crude distillation unit and additional secondary units slated for completion by 2028. While the timeline is ambitious, the current export surge – with jet fuel accounting for nearly half of June loadings – signals a reshaping of European fuel supply chains and heightened competition for Gulf and US exporters.