Dangote Refinery To Import 12 Million Barrels of Crude Oil from the United States

BY ABU-SATAR HAMED

LAGOS, NIGERIA – The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is set to receive a shipment of up to 12 million barrels of crude oil from the United States to sustain its operations.

This development comes as the refinery faces challenges in securing adequate crude supply locally.

Despite the refinery’s ambitious target to operate at its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by June, local crude supply shortfalls from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) have hindered progress.

To bridge the supply gap, the Dangote Refinery opted to import crude oil from the United States. Reports indicate that the 12 million barrels of crude have already departed from the US and are expected to arrive in Nigeria next month.

The $20 billion refinery, one of Africa’s most significant industrial investments, has been gearing up to transform Nigeria’s energy sector by reducing dependence on imported refined products. However, ensuring a steady supply of crude oil remains critical to achieving this goal.

“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.

The Dangote Refinery’s move to source crude oil internationally underscores the importance of consistent feedstock supply to meet its operational targets. Industry stakeholders are keenly watching as the imported crude shipment arrives to support the refinery’s production plans.