Cameroon plans return of Limbe Refinery to rival Nigeria
Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery has for the first time sourced crude oil from Ghana, a move that shows its diversification strategy amid persistent questions over operational setbacks.
The refinery, which is projected to transform fuel supply across West Africa, is currently running at an estimated 450,000 barrels per day (kbd), equivalent to about 70 per cent of its nameplate capacity, global insight company, Kpler, said in a report released yesterday.
This represents an increase from around 400 kbd, or 60 per cent, in the first quarter of the year, but still falls short of expectations for the $20 billion mega-project.
The decision to incorporate Ghana’s Sankofa grade, a medium-sweet crude with 29 API and 0.3 per cent sulphur content, highlights Dangote’s growing appetite for supply flexibility. In August, Kpler revealed that refinery’s receipts included five Nigerian Suezmaxes, two United States (U.S.) Very Large Crude Carriers, and the single Ghanaian cargo.
The report revealed that Brass River, which was absent from Dangote’s slate for nearly a year, also returned in recent weeks amid continuous diversification beyond traditional Nigerian and American light sweet grades.
Kpler reported lower intake volumes compared with July’s record of 570 kbd, when light sweet US crude overtook Nigerian barrels in the refinery’s mix for the first time.
Imports in August dropped back to roughly 450 kbd, which the agency attributed to a decline due to ongoing maintenance at the plant’s Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (RFCCU).
Despite these indications, Dangote Industries has denied suggestions of technical difficulties.
Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, dismissed reports of RFCC setbacks as “untrue” and “speculative.”
Chiejina, while speaking with The Guardian, insisted that the refinery has “no issue” and that operations are progressing as planned.
He, however, did not immediately confirm that the company has started importing crude oil from Ghana.
This rebuttal follows earlier comments by a senior refinery executive, who told S&P Global’s Platts on August 21 that work on the RFCC had been completed and the unit was set to resume normal output by August 24.
S&P Global had reported a surge in gasoline imports into West Africa, following a temporary outage at the Dangote Refinery.
The report noted that over the past 30 days, nearly one million tonnes of gasoline were shipped from Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean to West African markets, with 65 per cent landing in Lomé, Togo.
This setback shows that, while capacity is growing, operational reliability remains uncertain.
Sources, however, maintained that the restart was expected only in early September.
Meanwhile, in Cameroon, Sonara has announced plans to partially restore the long-idle Limbe Refinery by 2027 after an eight-year outage caused by fire, a move that would create rivalry for Dangote and other refiners in the country.
