Dangote Oil Refinery said it is still unable to meet all crude oil demand from domestic producers, prompting the intervention of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
On August 8, the refinery said it had processed 50 million barrels of crude oil since it began full-scale operations, 60 percent of which came from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
However, the refinery’s position reportedly differs from its previous position on crude oil supplies from NNPC.
In a statement, the group’s Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, denied these allegations, saying the company has never claimed that NNPC is not supplying crude oil to the refinery.
He called on the NUPRC to ensure that domestic companies honour their crude oil supply obligations. He said, “Our attention has been drawn to media reports alleging that the Dangote Refinery has backtracked by acknowledging that NNPC supplied about 60 percent of the 50 million barrels we lifted,”
“To clarify, we have never accused NNPC of not supplying us with crude. Our concern has always been NUPRC’s reluctance to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation and ensure that we receive our full crude requirement from NNPC and the IOCs.
“For September, our requirement is 15 cargoes, of which NNPC allocated six. Despite appealing to NUPRC, we’ve been unable to secure the remaining cargoes. When we approached IOCs producing in Nigeria, they redirected us to their international trading arms or responded that their cargoes were committed.”
As a result, Chiejina said, the refinery bought the same Nigerian crude oil from international traders at “an extra charge of $3-4 per barrel, which equates to $3-4 million per load.”
“We therefore still insist that we are unable to secure our full crude requirement from domestic production and urge NUPRC to fully enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as mandated by the PIA,” Chiedjina said.
On June 4, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said some international oil companies (IOCs) were struggling to supply crude oil to his refineries.
On July 15, speaking on Arise TV, NUPRC CEO Gbenga Komolafe described the allegations as “false,” noting that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) contains provisions governing transactions between buyers and sellers.
But days later, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) management claimed that IOCs had frustrated their request to buy crude oil as feedstock for their refineries.
