The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is set to receive up to 12 million barrels of crude oil from the United States, as the $20 billion facility struggles to secure sufficient local supply to meet its production targets.
According to sources, the crude oil shipment has already departed the US and is expected to arrive in Nigeria next month.
This development comes as the refinery ramps up production to about 500,000 barrels per day, with the aim of reaching its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by June this year.
However, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has been struggling to supply the refinery with the required 550,000 barrels of crude oil daily. The NNPC is currently supplying only 350,000 barrels per day, leaving a significant shortfall.
As a result, the Dangote refinery has been forced to look beyond Nigeria’s shores for the feedstock needed to sustain its operations.
The refinery’s officials have stated that the facility’s current production capacity cannot be solely supplied by the NNPC, highlighting the need for alternative sources of crude oil.
In July last year, President Tinubu directed the NNPC to sell crude oil to local refineries in naira. However, this directive has not alleviated the supply challenges faced by the Dangote refinery.
To address the issue, the refinery is building eight additional storage tanks to stockpile imported crude oil. This will increase the facility’s crude storage capacity by 41.67% to 3.4 billion liters.
The Dangote refinery’s decision to import crude oil from the US is seen as a strategic move to ensure the sustainability of its operations.
The facility had previously issued a term tender for the purchase of two million barrels of West Texas Intermediate Midland crude monthly for 12 months, starting in July last year.
The development highlights the challenges faced by Nigeria’s refining sector, which has struggled to meet the country’s fuel demands due to a combination of factors, including inadequate crude supply, infrastructure constraints, and regulatory issues.
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