Nigeria’s Dangote refinery faces a potential prolonged disruption in gasoline production as a critical unit may remain shut for two to three months, Reuters reports.

The refinery’s 204,000 barrel-per-day Residue Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Unit (RFCCU) has been offline since around August 29 due to catalyst leaks. While the facility aims to restart the unit on September 20, IIR Energy, an industry monitor, cautioned that extensive repairs and equipment replacement could extend the outage for several months.

The shutdown comes amid already strong gasoline market conditions. “This just adds fuel to the fire,” said one trader, reflecting the heightened pressure on supply.

Market indicators have responded accordingly. U.S. gasoline futures crack spreads have risen nearly 13 percent this week, reaching their highest level since August 19. Northwest European gasoline profit margins climbed approximately 23 percent to $19.31 as of Wednesday, according to LSEG data, marking their highest point since late June.

Philip Jones-Lux, senior analyst at Sparta Commodities, noted that supply constraints from the current and expected outages are sufficient to counter the usual seasonal decline in demand.