Dangote Refinery Appoints David Bird As CEO

The Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals has named trade veteran David Fowl as chief government officer of its fuels and petrochemicals division, because the Nigerian conglomerate pushes to speed up its growth throughout Africa.

In a press release to S&P International’s Platts, Fowl, previously the pinnacle of Oman’s Duqm refinery and instrumental in its growth, assumed his new function efficient July 2025. His appointment comes as Dangote’s $20 billion refinery advanced in Lagos, the world’s largest single-train refinery, continues to ramp up manufacturing since its commissioning in January 2024.

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and founding father of the Dangote Group, stays chairman of the refining enterprise and CEO of the broader group, which additionally operates within the cement, fertiliser, and sugar industries.
Fowl brings a strategic trading-led mindset, feedstock diversification experience, and an emphasis on refinery effectivity, all of which can be essential because the 650,000 barrels-per-day facility makes an attempt to resolve design flaws and obtain full output.

Fowl emphasised his intention to broaden the corporate’s attain past Nigeria and to ascertain it as a number one refining drive throughout Africa.

“My focus can be on maximising refinery output and operational effectivity whereas advancing the group’s footprint continent-wide,” Fowl said in a LinkedIn put up shortly after assuming his function.

Fowl’s appointment comes at a crucial second. Whereas the Dangote refinery has made important strides in disrupting Nigeria’s reliance on imported gasoline, displacing main volumes of gasoline imports, the ability has been affected by “unit upsets” and “design points,” slowing down its ramp-up part, based on S& S&P International.

In accordance with S&P International’s Commodities at Sea information, Dangote was the nation’s solely operational refinery in July, exporting roughly 220,000 bpd of petroleum merchandise as Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Firm (NNPC) amenities remained offline.

Notably, exports have been led by jet gasoline (45%) and gasoil (24%), with 30,000 bpd of residual gasoline shipped attributable to restricted RFCC processing capability.

Fowl’s management may also be essential in navigating a difficult home and regulatory surroundings. Whereas Nigeria’s petrol subsidy regime has formally been dismantled, market insiders report that unofficial distortions and “rent-seeking” behaviour persist. Aliko Dangote has beforehand criticised commerce companions and substandard gasoline imports for harming native refinery economics.

Including to the complexity is a naira-based crude provide settlement with NNPC, which owns a 7.2 per cent stake within the refinery. Beneath this association, the Dangote facility should provide fastened volumes of refined merchandise to the native market, proscribing its flexibility to adapt totally to world pricing dynamics and feedstock choices.

Nonetheless, Dangote has begun processing a broader vary of crude grades than initially deliberate. Initially designed round Nigerian crude, the ability has been pressured to diversify attributable to inconsistent home provide. This aligns effectively with Fowl’s expertise at OQ8, the place he managed a equally advanced crude slate on the Duqm refinery.

Fowl’s tenure is anticipated to be watched intently by trade analysts. His report at OQ8, the place he helped steer the Duqm refinery by means of its commissioning part and into check operations in 2023, is seen as robust preparation for the challenges forward at Dangote.

“David Fowl’s operational expertise and strategic acumen can be instrumental in stabilising the refinery’s efficiency and positioning it as a continental chief,” stated one downstream oil analyst, talking on situation of anonymity. “However he’ll have to maneuver quick to deal with the mechanical and market pressures going through the plant.”