Amidst lingering crisis, Dangote Refinery has revealed that the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) is supplying insufficient crude oil for its production demand, hence it is planning to source from Brazil and the USA.
The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, alongside NNPCL, had been locked in a dispute, ranging from monopoly allegations to supply of crude for the refinery, substandard fuel imports and ownership of blending plants in Malta.
However, Dangote, in a new revelation, said for the $20 billion refinery to meet its production demand, it must look for other sources of crude oil supply overseas as the NNPCL allocation is insufficient.
He said the refinery, which has the capacity of refining 650,000 per day, could not depend on short supply from Nigeria’s oil company.
Rabiu Umar, Group Chief Commercial Officer, Dangote Industries Limited, yesterday told newsmen in Kano that the NNPC supplies only 33 percent of crude to the refinery, disclosing that it has to look elsewhere to source the remaining 67 percent to meet its production capacity.
According to Umar, the refinery has concluded plans to supply crude oil from Brazil and America by August.
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“First of all the refinery is here in Nigeria. We have crude oil here in Nigeria. We thought we would get the crude oil here and refine it here in our refinery for the benefit of the country and the citizens.
“Unfortunately, the country takes the crude oil overseas for refining while we have a refinery, one of the biggest in the world.
“So, we will not stay idle. We have to look for other sources to meet our production capacity. If we get the crude oil supply here in the country we would have no reason to go overseas.
“Even now, we are planning to supply crude oil from countries like Brazil and USA,” he said.
He said the refinery had commenced supplies to foreign countries since February, disclosing that they receive orders from different countries for supply, especially aviation fuel.