Dangote Refinery has accused International Oil Companies (IOCs) of failing to meet their domestic crude oil supply obligations, despite mandates from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
In a statement by its Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, the company clarified that while the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has met its quota, the refinery is still facing a shortfall in crude supply.
Dangote Group alleged that it has been forced to purchase Nigerian crude oil from international traders at an exorbitant premium of $3 to $4 per barrel. This, the company claims, is due to IOCs redirecting their Nigerian crude to their international trading arms rather than supplying it domestically as required by law.
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The statement reads, “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.”
“To clarify, we have never accused NNPC of not supplying us with crude. Our concern has always been that NUPRC is pushing but IOCs are not following the instructions to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation and ensure that we receive our full crude requirement from NNPC and the IOCs.”
“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.”
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“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. It is a law, and they just need to comply.”
The Dangote Refinery stated that for September, their requirement was 15 cargoes, of which NNPC had allocated six. Despite their appeals to NUPRC and the intervention provided, they had been unable to secure the remaining cargoes.
They further mentioned that when they approached IOCs producing in Nigeria, they were redirected to the international trading arms of these companies or were informed that the cargoes were already committed elsewhere.
