Fuel shortages are expected to persist long after the US 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 tells 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,” CEO David Bird tells Reuters.
“Plus inventories have to be rebuilt, plus a lot of countries are talking about supply security and increasing stocks.”
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.
