With its current production capacity of 500,000bpd, officials said there is a need to look beyond the shores of Nigeria for the feedstock
Dangote sets to import crude oil from US to meet refinery’s full-capacity operations
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is awaiting up to 12 million barrels of crude oil from the United States.
The refinery resorted to crude importation as local supply challenges hindered the new $20bn refinery’s push to reach full refining capacity.
Recall that the refinery plans to reach its 650,000 barrels per day capacity in June this year.
However, low local crude supply from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is currently a challenge to this plan to ramp up daily production.
The 12 million barrels of crude has already left the United States and will land in Nigeria next month, according to the news from African Report.
“About 12 million barrels of crude have departed the US and should arrive in Nigeria by February,” an insider source told The Africa Report.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery is said to be importing more crude oil as supply from the NNPC becomes insufficient for fuel production at the $20bn Lekki-based facility.
Officials at the plant said the facility has ramped up production to about 500,000 barrels per day, with the target of hitting the 650,000bpd mark by June this year.
The NNPC is reportedly struggling to supply 350,000bpd to the Dangote refinery from the 450,000bpd crude meant for Nigeria’s local consumption.
With its current production capacity of 500,000bpd, officials said there is a need to look beyond the shores of Nigeria for the feedstock.
It was said that the feedstock needed by the refinery daily cannot be solely supplied by the state-owned oil company, NNPC.
Recall that in July, President Tinubu ordered the NNPC to sell crude oil to local refineries in naira.
According to the crude oil production forecast of producing oil companies and the refining requirement of functional refineries in Nigeria signed by the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, the Dangote refinery would require 550,000 barrels of a blend of Nigerian crude oil daily, 17.05 million barrels monthly, and 99.55 million barrels between January and June 2025.
The Dangote refinery is already building eight more tanks to store imported crude. The facility is planning to stockpile imported crude oil as local supplies become unreliable.
Officials of the refinery were quoted as saying that low crude supply from the NNPC “is driving import dependence.”
The building of eight additional tanks will see crude storage capacity at the refinery jump by 41.67 per cent to 3.4 billion litres.
“Importing crude from other countries instead of buying locally means that our crude stockpiles will have to be higher,” the Vice President in charge of the oil and gas business at Dangote Industries, Devakumar Edwin, was quoted as having said recently.
In May 2024, the refinery reportedly 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, amounting to 24 million barrels of crude in one year.
Dangote is set to purchase 12 million barrels of crude oil from the United States to support its refinery operations. The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is expecting this shipment as it faces local supply challenges that hinder its efforts to reach full refining capacity at the $20 billion facility.
The refinery aims to reach a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by June this year. However, insufficient local crude supply from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) poses a significant challenge in achieving this goal. According to sources from The Africa Report, the 12 million barrels have already departed the United States and are scheduled to arrive in Nigeria next month.
“About 12 million barrels of crude have left the U.S. and should reach Nigeria by February,” an insider disclosed. The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is increasingly importing crude oil as the supply from NNPC fails to meet its needs for fuel production. Officials at the refinery stated that they have ramped up production to approximately 500,000 barrels per day, with the goal of hitting the 650,000 barrels per day target by June.
The NNPC is reportedly struggling to provide 350,000 barrels per day of crude to Dangote’s refinery from the total of 450,000 barrels per day allocated for Nigeria’s local consumption. Given its current production capacity of 500,000 barrels per day, the refinery is compelled to seek crude supplies beyond Nigeria’s borders. It has been indicated that the daily feedstock requirement for the refinery cannot be fully met by NNPC alone.
In July, President Tinubu instructed NNPC to sell crude oil to local refineries in naira. According to the production forecast provided by oil companies and the refining requirements of operational refineries in Nigeria, which was signed by the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, the Dangote refinery will require a blend of 550,000 barrels of Nigerian crude oil daily, totaling 17.05 million barrels monthly and 99.55 million barrels between January and June 2025.
To address the challenges of unreliable local supplies, the Dangote refinery is also constructing eight additional tanks to store imported crude oil, which will increase its crude storage capacity by 41.67% to 3.4 billion liters. The Vice President in charge of the oil and gas business at Dangote Industries, Devakumar Edwin, noted, “Importing crude from other countries instead of sourcing locally means that our crude stockpiles will need to be higher.”
In May 2024, the refinery issued a term tender for the purchase of two million barrels of West Texas Intermediate Midland crude per month for 12 months, totaling 24 million barrels of crude over the year. Read More
