Nigeria’s Dangote oil refinery has derated its gasoline making unit (RFCC) by 34% since May ​21 and expects the unit to resume ‌full rates in mid-June, industry monitor IIR Energy said.

The refinery did not immediately respond to a Reuters request ​for comment.

“Initially, lighter crude being processed resulted ​in insufficient feed availability for the RFCCU.

However, ⁠by the end of May, IIR Energy ​confirmed that the RFCCU was also facing an ​issue with its flue gas slide gate valve. Repair work on that issue is almost complete,” IIR said in an ​email.

The gasoline unit not running at full ​capacity could spell trouble for the local market, as fuel ‌prices ⁠have reached record-high levels due to the impact of war in the Middle East.

Africa’s largest refinery became fully operational early this year and was designed ​to transform ​Nigeria into ⁠a major exporter of refined products after decades of inadequate refinery capacity.

Gasoline ​exports from the refinery fell to 17,000 ​barrels ⁠per day in May and stand at 10,000 bpd in June so far, according to data from ⁠commodities ​analytics firm Kpler, compared to ​highs of since June last year, with 81,000 bpd in ​April.

REUTERS