DANGOTE REFINERY APPOINTS FORMER DUQM BOSS DAVID BIRD AS CEO TO DRIVE EXPANSION, OVERCOME PRODUCTION CHALLENGES
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has appointed David Bird, former CEO of Oman’s Duqm Refinery, as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective July 2025. The move marks a significant leadership shift aimed at tackling persistent production setbacks and advancing the refinery’s next phase of expansion.
Bird, a former Shell executive who led operations at the Balau Pokom refinery, now heads the fuels and petrochemicals division of the Dangote Group, which operates the world’s largest single-train refinery, commissioned in early 2024. His appointment was confirmed in a report by S\&P Global and further highlighted during the Dangote Leadership Development Program Graduation Ceremony, where he was in attendance.
The strategic appointment underscores the company’s renewed push to scale output, optimize operations, and solidify its standing as Africa’s top refining and petrochemicals powerhouse. Founder Aliko Dangote remains Chairman of the refinery and CEO of the wider conglomerate, which also spans cement, fertilizer, and sugar.
Bird’s extensive experience at OQ8 in Oman, particularly in expanding capacity and diversifying crude feedstock, is expected to prove critical as the Nigerian refinery adapts to operational challenges, including a constrained supply of domestic crude. In a LinkedIn update, Bird stated that he is focused on increasing output and extending the group’s influence beyond Nigeria into broader African and global markets.
The refinery, which has faced unit upsets and design-related issues since its commissioning, aims to ramp up to full capacity and process a wider range of crude types. This pivot is partly driven by the limited availability of the Nigerian crude it was initially built to process. Despite these hurdles, the facility has significantly disrupted Nigeria’s dependency on fuel imports.
As part of its growth blueprint, the Dangote Group plans to raise refining capacity to 700,000 barrels per day, expand port facilities, and establish international storage in countries such as Namibia. A fleet of 4,000 CNG-powered trucks is also set to launch in August under its new distribution business.
While Dangote has accused some trade partners of undermining the refinery through substandard imports and rent-seeking behavior, the company continues to gain ground. In July 2025 alone, Nigeria exported 220,000 b/d of petroleum products, with Dangote serving as the nation’s sole active refiner due to outages at Nigerian National Petroleum Company facilities.
Though test runs on the main gasoline unit the residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) began in Q3 2024, the unit has suffered multiple breakdowns this year, reducing gasoline output. A Dangote executive recently confirmed the RFCC was operating at 85 per cent, rejecting reports of a planned December shutdown.
Jet fuel remains the refinery’s top export, accounting for 45 per cent of July shipments, followed by gasoil at 24 per cent and residual fuel at 30,000 b/d.
Looking ahead, Dangote Group is also exploring plans to list the refinery on both the London and Lagos stock exchanges as it prepares to transition into a publicly traded entity.
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