The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has revealed that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is making significant inroads into the European petrol market. According to OPEC, the refinery's efforts to ramp up Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) production are impacting the European gasoline market.

The 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery, which began operations in January last year, started producing PMS in September. This marked a significant milestone for Nigeria, which had previously relied heavily on imports to meet its domestic fuel needs.

Since commencing production, the refinery has exported petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel to various countries within and outside Africa. OPEC noted that the emergence of the Dangote refinery has reduced Nigeria's reliance on petroleum product imports from Europe.

OPEC's report stated: "The ongoing operational ramp-up efforts at Nigeria's new Dangote refinery and its gasoline exports to the international market will likely weigh further on the European gasoline market."

The report added: "Continued gasoline production in Nigeria, a country that has relied heavily on imports to meet its domestic fuel needs in the past, will most likely continue to free up gasoline volumes in international markets, which will call for new destinations and flow adjustments for the extra volumes going forward."

In the last quarter of 2024, OPEC observed that imports declined, particularly oil product imports, improving the outlook for Nigeria's external sector.

The report also noted that the gasoline crack spread in Rotterdam against Brent increased slightly on healthy exports, although gasoline inventories at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp storage hub remained high.

OPEC expects gasoline inventory builds to extend into the coming month amid a lengthening gasoline balance in the Atlantic Basin due to winter-season demand-side pressures.

The organization maintained that the ongoing recovery in gasoline refinery output levels will likely exacerbate the already bearish market sentiment.

Meanwhile, OPEC's Monthly Oil Market Report revealed that Nigeria's average daily crude production hit 1.507 million barrels in December, according to data from secondary sources. This represents a 12,000-barrel-per-day increase from November's figure of 1.477 million barrels per day.

However, the Nigerian government reported a slightly lower figure of 1.485 million barrels per day for December, which aligns with the data provided by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

It is worth noting that the Dangote refinery has been ranked above the 10 biggest refineries in Europe due to its massive 650,000-barrel-per-day capacity. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the refinery surpasses Shell's Pernis refinery in the Netherlands, which has an installed capacity of 404,000 barrels per day.

Other major refineries in Europe include the BP Rotterdam in the Netherlands with a capacity of 380,000 barrels per day, the GOI Energy ISAB refinery in Italy with a capacity of 360,000 barrels per day, and the TotalEnergies Antwerp refining facility in Belgium with a capacity of 338,000 barrels per day.