Nigerian unions threaten Dangote with nationwide logistics strikes

Nigeria's largest labour unions have threatened the country's Dangote oil refinery with nationwide strikes over its truck fleet rollout and employment terms, traders and industry leaders said Sept. 8.

On the directive of oil workers union Nupeng, Nigerian truckers began indefinite strikes Sept. 8, suspending loadings of all products from the 650,000 b/d refinery in Lagos.

The industrial action was called in protest against a recent push by the Dangote Group to take control of its own gasoline distribution, which until recently had relied on third-party logistics to shift its fuel. From August, the business began rolling out its own fleet of 4,000 trucks, which it says can deliver fuel free of charge across the country.

Nupeng says that the Dangote fleet could drive thousands of its members out of employment and would unfairly monopolize the Nigerian fuel sector. The union has also accused Dangote of barring its members from unionizing and failing to respect the country's labour practices.

The union first directed members of its petroleum tanker drivers branch on Sept. 5 to withdraw their services from the oil refinery in protest, effective from the beginning of this week.

"The strike is on. Our members have stopped loading fuel at the depots from today," a union official told Platts Sept. 8.

Its action was firmly backed by Pengassan, the petroleum and natural gas union, which said in a Sept. 8 statement it would be "left with no option but to join in shutting down the refinery operations" if the company fails to allow its employees to unionise. Pengassan members are responsible for handling documentation for oil production and export terminals, as well as in refineries and fuel depots.

Two market sources confirmed that trucking companies had already suspended loadings from the refinery, raising concerns over national fuel shortages linked to previous strike actions. Nigeria's government called a meeting with the union Sept. 8 to mitigate strike disruption, but has yet to share the outcome of the planned talks.

The Dangote Group was not immediately available for comment.

The refinery had initially targeted an Aug. 15 launch date for its own CNG-powered truck fleet, but was forced to settle for a phased rollout after delays in shipping the vehicles from their Chinese construction sites. Market sources estimate that around 1,000 trucks have arrived at the facility to date.

"The truck manufacturers are struggling to get enough ships to ship out 4,000 trucks and tankers," a refinery executive told Platts days after the launch date. Construction of the full fleet has been completed, however, and ships are continuing to arrive at the facility to deliver the additional vehicles, he said.

Nupeng is also protesting new fiscal laws that will increase taxes on imported fuel from January 2026, saying that the measures could unfairly stifle competition.

For the Dangote refinery, currently the only working facility in Nigeria, the industrial action poses a new setback after recent operational challenges at the major site. On Sept. 2, the refinery suffered the latest in a string of outages on its main gasoline unit, the residue fluid catalytic cracker, with little clarity over a potential restart date.

Without the 150,000 b/d RFCC operating, the complex can still produce gasoline from its 120,000 b/d reformer, which market sources say continues to operate. It can still produce other products, such as diesel, jet fuel and residual fuel, which it continues to export to the global market.