I’ve Never Said NNPC Doesn’t Supply Dangote Refinery Crude Oil – Dangote

The President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has come out to say that his $20bn Dangote Petroleum Refinery was built to use Nigerian crude and add value to it within the country.

He recently had his say via a press statement, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, the refinery was built to use Nigerian crude and add value to it within Nigeria, so he does not understand why he would want to deviate from that focus.

He added that Dangote refinery has never accused NNPC of not supplying the company with crude, and the only issue has always been with NUPRC’s reluctance to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation.

It read, “Its diet is WTI and the lighter Nigerian (crudes) so if you were chasing those barrels you’d probably feel it quite keenly. The US grade has accounted for 30 per cent of crude delivered to Dangote, through 18 cargoes.

The refinery was built to use Nigerian crude and add value to it within Nigeria. Why should we deviate from that focus?

Dangote refinery is designed to process a range of light and medium grades of crude oil, including Nigerian grades.

Our attention has been drawn to media reports alleging that the Dangote refinery has backtracked by acknowledging that NNPC supplied about 60 per cent 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.

Consequently, we often purchase the same Nigerian crude from international traders at an additional $3-$4 premium per barrel which translates to $3-$4 million per cargo.”