Considering the 1.235 million barrels per day (bpd) produced just in December, Nigeria is bound to maintain its rank as Africa's top oil producer and potentially the largest by 2025, per a report called 'Refineries Watch Q4 2022' by pan-African investment research firm Hawilti, cited by local media.

The report states that “both the opening of the Dangote refinery and the rehabilitation of state-owned refineries have the potential to make Nigeria Africa’s biggest refining hub by 2025,” the report said.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) demonstrates that Angola comes next with 1.088 million bpd and Algeria afterward with 1.01 million bpd. 

Largest single-train in the world

The construction of the Dangote refinery in Lekki by a multinational industrial conglomerate, the Dangote Group, launched in 2016 and was supposed to end in 2018, but the refinery is expected to launch and begin operations this year.

The refinery, which produces crude oil, is anticipated to produce about 650,000 bpd, which would list it as the world's largest refinery of a single train once it begins operating. 

Hawilti suggested that to maximize potential and profit, Nigeria can repair the already existing state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, which harbor a total capacity to produce 445,000 barrels per day.

Nigeria's bound to have a good few years ahead. A recent report issued by Nigeria’s government and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) stated that by 2050, energy needs will be met in Nigeria as renewable energy sources account for nearly 60% of final energy consumption, if the African nation enforces an “increased renewable uptake scenario." 

With that, fuel supply on the continent could face major transformations this year as West Africa is already the hub of the largest refining capacity on the sub-continent, but only 23% of it is functioning.