LAGOS, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s Dangote Oil refinery, Africa’s largest, could begin operating at full capacity in 30 days, the head of the refinery said on Monday.

The 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery built by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote in Lagos began processing crude into products, including diesel, naphtha and jet fuel, in January last year and started processing petrol in September.

It aims to compete with European refiners when operating at full capacity but had been struggling to secure sufficient crude locally.

Edwin Devakumar, head of the Dangote oil refinery said it was currently operating at 85% capacity and “we can go 100 percent in 30 days.”

Last year, the refinery turned to importing crude after it was unable to secure sufficient volumes despite an agreement with the Nigerian government to buy crude in the local naira currency.

It has asked for 550,000 bpd of crude for January-June this year from oil producers in Nigeria, according to the oil regulator, which has also said it would block export permits for oil cargoes from producers who fail to meet their stipulated supply quota to local refineries.

The Dangote Oil Refinery is exploring new markets for its refined products. Founder Aliko Dangote told a group of Nigerian professionals who visited last week that it was sending two cargoes of jet fuel to Saudi Aramco as part of its plans to expand.

“We are looking at all the markets right now,” said Devakumar.

(Reporting by Isaac Anyaogu; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)