- Dangote Refinery emphasized that its primary concern is that refineries in Nigeria should be able to purchase crude oil
The management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has denied receiving the 29 million barrels of crude oil that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) claimed to have facilitated for the refinery.
In a statement released on Friday, Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief, Branding and Communication for Dangote Industries Limited, clarified that the refinery has not yet received the crude oil allocation mentioned by the NUPRC.
The NUPRC, in a previous statement, had asserted that it facilitated the delivery of 29 million barrels of crude oil to the 650,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Dangote refinery during the first six months of 2024. This was in response to Dangote’s concerns about weak enforcement of domestic oil supply obligations.
However, Dangote Refinery quickly responded, stating, “We would like to thank them for this allocation but at the same time let them know that we are yet to receive these cargoes.” The refinery further explained that aside from the term supply it had negotiated bilaterally with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), NUPRC had only facilitated the purchase of one crude cargo from a domestic producer. The remaining cargoes processed by the refinery were purchased from international traders.
Dangote Refinery emphasized that its primary concern is that refineries in Nigeria should be able to purchase crude oil directly from domestic producers rather than relying on international middlemen. This requirement is specified in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The refinery also criticized the NUPRC’s inability to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as outlined in the PIA, noting that the commission used the “sanctity of contracts” as an excuse for its shortcomings.
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