Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals has increased its crude oil processing capacity to 700,000 barrels per day (bpd), surpassing its official nameplate capacity of 650,000 bpd.

The achievement was confirmed during a performance test conducted by the refinery’s process licensors and represents a major milestone in the facility’s operational growth.

In a statement issued on Thursday in Lagos, Head of Corporate Communications, Anthony Chiejina, said the increased capacity highlights the refinery’s strong engineering design and operational efficiency.

Speaking on the development, Vice President of oil and gas at Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, said the refinery plans to expand its processing capacity to 1.4 million bpd within the next 30 months.

The refinery, owned by billionaire Aliko Dangote, began fuel production in 2024 and has since scaled up output of petrol, diesel and jet fuel.

It supplies domestic markets and exports to African countries and Europe, ​including the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands, while also shipping products to the ​United States and Saudi Arabia.

Dangote Refinery has become a major supplier amid global supply disruptions tied ‌to ⁠Middle East tensions, with African buyers seeking more reliable sources.

Exports climbed to 353,000 barrels per day in April from 168,000 bpd in February, according to data from analytics firm Kpler, with about half of that volume flowing to other African countries.

The surge marks ​a significant expansion for ​Africa’s largest refinery ⁠and demonstrates its emergence as a regional supplier, though analysts caution it is too early to assess whether the trend represents ​a lasting shift in trade patterns, particularly after exports pulled back ​to 285,000 ⁠bpd in May.

“We’re seeing a clear shift toward regional barrels, with Dangote steadily increasing its share of Africa’s seaborne fuel imports,” said Mick Strautmann, market analyst at Vortexa.

The refinery ⁠has built ​up a large surplus of jet fuel and can ​supply global markets, Chief Executive David Bird said on Tuesday, as rising output attracts growing interest from international ​crude suppliers and commodity trading firms.

The refinery is also expected to support downstream manufacturing through a reliable supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), polypropylene, and other industrial feedstocks used in the production of packaging materials and consumer goods.