Dangote Petroleum Refinery Limited has insisted that it has been unable to secure its full crude requirement from domestic production, and has urged that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission fully enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as mandated by the Petroleum Industry Act.
Dangote insisted in a statement signed by the Group Chief, Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, where the company clarified issues relating to the challenges it has been facing at getting crude oil supply locally for its operations.
It said, “Our attention has been drawn to media reports alleging that the Dangote Refinery has backtracked by acknowledging that NNPC supplied about 60% of the 50 million barrels we lifted.”
The company denied reports that it had accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited of not supplying it with crude.
It said, “Our concern has always been NUPRC’s reluctance to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation and ensure that we receive our full crude requirement from NNPC and the IOCs.
“For September, our requirement is 15 cargoes, of which NNPC allocated six. Despite appealing to NUPRC, we’ve been unable to secure the remaining cargoes. When we approached IOCs producing in Nigeria, they redirected us to their international trading arms or responded that their cargoes were committed.
“Consequently, we often purchase the same Nigerian crude from international traders at an additional $3-$4 premium per barrel which translates to $3-$4 million per cargo
“We therefore still insist that we are unable to secure our full crude requirement from domestic production and urge NUPRC to fully enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as mandated by the PIA.”
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has recently engaged both government officials and international oil companies in a brawl, over crude oil supplies to the 650, 000 barrels per day facility.
While the NUPRC had alleged that the refinery was churning out substandard products and that it wanted a monopolistic market, Dangote in return alleged that government officials were doing all to frustrate his business, and that most of his crude supplies were imported rather than locally sourced.
Different groups and individuals have since waded into the controversy, with many calling for the Nigerian government to encourage the refinery instead of sabotaging its efforts.
