Nigeria has become a key crude supplier to Senegal’s 30,000-barrels-per-day Dakar Refinery, even as Senegal marked its debut as an oil-producing nation last year.

Senegal began output in mid-2024 from the Sangomar field, producing about 100,000 barrels per day of medium sour crude (31° API, 1.0% sulphur), according to industry tracker Kpler.

But nearly all of this production is exported to Europe, with Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands receiving the bulk of shipments.

Despite its new producer status, Senegal’s lone refinery cannot process Sangomar crude. Industry data shows the Dakar Refinery is designed for lighter, sweeter grades, leaving its domestic output unsuitable for local refining.

The Dakar Refinery has instead switched to Nigeria’s Erha crude (36° API, 0.2 per cent sulphur), which suits its configuration.

According to Kpler, Senegal has recently been importing about 30,000 barrels per day of Erha, underscoring Nigeria’s importance as a steady supplier to its refining system.

“Senegal’s 30 kbd Dakar refinery, configured to process lighter, sweeter crudes, is currently running on Nigeria’s Erha crude (36° API, 0.2 per cent sulphur), with imports into Dakar averaging 30 kbd in recent months,” Kpler stated.

Refineries are engineered for specific crude qualities, and the Dakar plant was built to process light, low-sulphur oil—making Nigerian grades such as Erha a natural fit.

Industry sources note that Sangomar crude would need blending before it could be processed domestically.

Even with Nigerian barrels supplying the Dakar refinery, Senegal’s needs far exceed what local refining can cover. The country continues to depend heavily on imported fuels, bringing in 90,000–100,000 barrels per day between 2024 and 2025. Up to 60% of these imports came from Russia, largely in the form of gasoil, diesel, and fuel oil.

“To fully meet domestic product demand, Senegal relies heavily on refined imports, particularly from Russia. Of the 90–100 kbd of refined products imported during 2024–2025, 50–60 per cent originated from Russia, mainly gasoil, fuel oil, and diesel,” the report said.

This underscores the paradox of Senegal’s energy balance: even as an oil exporter, the country depends on Nigeria for refinery feedstock and on Russia for much of its finished fuel supply.