Dangote Refinery Recorded N19.5 Trillion Revenue, N2.55tn Profit in Six Months

• Plans $14bn expansion to double capacity to 1.4m bpd by 2029 

•Refinery CEO: Fuel shortages will extend beyond Iran war

• M’East crisis expands as Iran-backed Houthis attack four Saudi cities 

•Brent crude touches  $99.46,  highest since July 24

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals generated a revenue of about N19.47 trillion ($13.91 billion) and Profit After Tax of roughly N2.55 trillion ($1.82 billion) in the first half of 2026, as the 650,000 barrels per day facility swung decisively into profitability.

The figures, contained in the prospectus for the refinery’s planned Initial Public Offering (IPO), showed that the refinery recorded the huge figures in the six months to June 2026, based on a THISDAY exchange rate conversion of N1,400 to the dollar.

The performance marked a significant turnaround for the refinery, which recorded a $476 million loss for the whole of 2025, according to the IPO prospectus, from which Reuters and billionaires Africa, a digital media company and news platform first extracted the report.

The refinery also recorded earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $2.60 billion, equivalent to about N3.64 trillion, during the period.

The strong performance came as the refinery ramped up production and improved its operating efficiency, with average utilisation reaching 83.6 per cent during the first half of the year.

The facility began the year operating at about 45 per cent utilisation but reached full crude distillation unit utilisation during the second quarter following improvements to its residual fluid catalytic cracker and a shift away from producing lower-value reduced crude oil.

Its gross refining margin also strengthened significantly, rising to $24.50 per barrel in the first half of 2026, compared with $13.70 per barrel in 2025 and $10.70 per barrel in 2024. The refinery’s EBITDA margin stood at 18.7 per cent during the period, underscoring the improvement in its financial performance.

The results come as Dangote Refinery prepares to raise about N2.26 trillion through its IPO, based on the approved offer price of N525 per share and an initial offering of 4.1 billion ordinary shares.

The offer, which is expected to run from September 14 to October 13, is being positioned by the company as a “people’s IPO”, aimed at giving Nigerians, members of the diaspora and other Africans an opportunity to participate in the ownership of the industrial facility.

Besides, the Dangote Refinery plans to spend about $14.3 billion, equivalent to N20.02 trillion at N1,400 to the dollar, to expand its processing capacity to 1.4 million bpd by 2029.

The expansion would effectively double the refinery’s current capacity and is expected to consolidate its position as a major supplier to both domestic and international markets.

The company said its strategy would allow it to direct products to either the Nigerian market or export destinations depending on prevailing commercial returns.

Since commencing operations, the refinery has increasingly emerged as an exporter of refined petroleum products, including jet fuel and diesel.

The refinery exported jet fuel to the United States for the first time this year and was identified by S&P Global Energy as the world’s largest single exporter of jet fuel during April and May.

Dangote, who is Africa’s richest man, said at the IPO signing ceremony in Lagos on Monday that although the refinery had benefited from supply disruptions linked to conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, its investments were designed to be sustainable over the long term.

The refinery’s chief executive, David Bird, said the IPO was intended to broaden participation in the ownership of the facility and enable Nigerians and other Africans to benefit from the wealth created by the project.

Dangote Refinery was built at a cost of about $20 billion and began operations in 2024. The planned expansion, once completed, would raise its crude processing capacity from 700,000 bpd to 1.4 million bpd, according to the IPO prospectus.

Meanwhile, fuel shortages are expected to persist long after the U.S. war with Iran due to the damage inflicted on refineries and the need to replenish stocks, the Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s Dangote oil refinery, David Bird, told Reuters.

Dangote is set to double its capacity to equal the world’s largest, the Jamnagar Refinery in India, and plans a second refinery in Kenya.

“We went in (to the Iran war) at high refinery utilisation (rates), and there’s been deferred maintenance and damages to Middle East refineries – that’s just to meet current demand. Plus inventories have to be rebuilt, plus a lot of countries are talking about supply security and increasing stocks,” Bird stated.

Nigeria’s Dangote refinery has emerged as a winner this year as wars involving the United States and Iran and Russia with Ukraine have damaged refining capacity and disrupted exports, creating global shortages of fuels such as gasoline and diesel.

The refinery posted a first-half after-tax profit of $1.82 billion after a $476 million loss for the previous full year, its IPO prospectus showed on Monday.

“We’re at full capacity, 700,000 barrels per day, we are enjoying those upswings, and yes it has fundamentally changed the funding premise of this Vision 2030,” Bird said, referring to its expansion plan.

It aims to double capacity to 1.4 million bpd by 2029 as part of the $14.3 billion expansion, Bird said.

That will include the construction of petrochemical and oil refining units that will enhance the plant’s import substitution of some petrochemical products, and enable it to produce different specifications of diesel, Bird said.

Also yesterday, Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthis attacked four cities in the south of U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, wounding more than 70 people and setting oil installations ablaze in what appeared to be a major expansion of the six-month-old Middle East war.

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen’s populated areas including the capital, said they had launched a broad operation deep into Saudi territory. They used drones and missiles to strike a Saudi airbase in the southern city of Khamis Mushait as well as Saudi state oil company assets in the cities of Abha, Najran and Jazan.

Saudi authorities described blazes at the sites and said women and children were among the 73 people hurt. The reports of such large numbers of wounded suggested the attacks were among the biggest carried out against Saudi Arabia since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran in February, a Reuters report said.

After a month of calm in August, fighting in the Gulf has resumed, with Iran and the U.S. exchanging fire, sending global oil prices back towards the $100 a barrel level passed at the war’s peak. Brent crude touched $99.46 on Tuesday, the highest since July 24, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude hit its highest level since June 8. Both benchmarks later eased but were still up on the day.

Houthi attacks on southwestern Saudi Arabia have the potential to worsen the war’s global economic impact by disrupting Middle East energy supplies beyond the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition battling against the Houthis in Yemen for more than a decade. That war had calmed in recent years, but a ceasefire there has broken down, with the Houthis threatening shipping at the mouth of the Red Sea.

In recent days, Saudi-backed Yemeni forces of a government based in the south have launched a multipronged offensive on Houthi-held areas, after the Houthis tried to advance on government-held positions. The government, which was driven by the Houthis from the capital 12 years ago, says it now aims to recapture all Houthi-held territory.