Key facts
- Dangote gave no names, no breakdown of the roughly $7 billion owed and no figure for how much is overdue.
- Nigeria met its 1.5 million-bpd OPEC quota in October, the sixth consecutive month it has done so, per figures released Wednesday.
- Dangote called the government's 3 million-bpd target for 2030 too modest, noting Nigeria once aimed for 4.2 million bpd by 2024.
- The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission is offering 40 blocks in its 2026 licensing round.
- Dangote said he is pressing banks to extend more credit to Nigerian-owned operators so they avoid foreign financing.
A few Nigerian oil and gas companies owe local banks about $7 billion, and most domestic bank financing for the industry is now on hold as a result, Aliko Dangote told the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists conference in Lagos on Wednesday, November 11, 2026.
"A few companies, I believe, owe the banks about $7bn," Dangote said. "As a result, most funding from our domestic banks is on hold." He offered no names or breakdown of the debt and did not say how much was overdue.
Nigeria's October crude output was 1.51 million barrels per day, down from 1.53 million in September, according to figures released Wednesday. That was just enough to meet the country's 1.5 million-bpd OPEC quota, which it has now managed for six consecutive months.
Dangote called the government's target of 3 million bpd by 2030 too modest, pointing out that Nigeria once aimed for 4.2 million bpd by 2024, a target that passed with production far below it. He has called for more exploration and local technical expertise and for fewer surprises from policymakers, and is pressing banks to extend more credit to Nigerian-owned operators so they do not have to seek foreign financing.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission is offering 40 blocks in its 2026 licensing round, saying last month that 22 recent awardees were expected to bring at least 250,000 bpd online within five years.
Dangote's 650,000-bpd refinery outside Lagos carried 7.9 trillion naira, about $5.8 billion, in debt at the end of June, after reducing the balance by 798 billion naira in the first half. Its recent share offering drew 5.85 trillion naira in applications from nearly 3.8 million investors. Dangote did not say whether the refinery's borrowing was included in the $7 billion industry figure.