The Dangote Oil Refinery has insisted that the facility is not getting enough feedstock from producers in the country.
In a statement on Thursday, the Dangote Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, said the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission has not been enforcing the domestic crude supply obligations the way it should.
Chiejina was reacting to reports alleging that the refinery has backtracked by acknowledging that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited supplied about 60 per cent of the 50 million barrels it had lifted.
The company was said to have stated this on Wednesday before the Senate committee investigating allegations of sabotage in the oil and gas sector.
“To clarify, we have never accused NNPC of not supplying us with crude. 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 international oil companies.
“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,” Chiejina said.
He reiterated that the company often purchases 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 statement concluded.
