Government could buy petroleum products from Nigeria's Dangote Oil Refinery once the facility is operating at full capacity, cutting more expensive exports from Europe, the head of the country's oil regulator said on Monday.

This could end monthly fuel imports from Europe of $400 million, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, chairman of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) said at the OTL Africa Downstream oil conference in Lagos.

"If the refinery reaches 650,000 bpd a day capacity, all that volume cannot be consumed by Nigeria alone, so instead of us importing as we do right now from Rotterdam, it will be much easier for us to import from Nigeria and I believe that will bring down our prices," Dr Hamid said.

The Dangote Oil refinery built by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote is expected to operate at near full capacity at the end of the year and analysts believe it could be fully operational in the first quarter of 2025.

Hamid said importing from Nigeria rather than Europe would bring down the prices of other goods and services by removing freight costs.

Eventually, he said African countries would agree on a common currency that should dampen demand for dollars.

Ghana's economy, which grew by 6.9% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, has been driven largely by a strong expansion of the extractive sector which has boosted demand for fuel.