Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, has recently highlighted a significant challenge facing the Dangote refinery.
According to Dangote, the issue stems from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria.
In a statement released on Thursday, Dangote addressed a report indicating that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) provides the Dangote Refinery with about 60 percent of the 50 million barrels of crude oil it processes.
Dangote clarified that the core problem is NUPRC’s failure to enforce domestic supply obligations imposed on IOCs.
Dangote further explained that when his company sought crude oil directly from the IOCs, they were either redirected to third parties or informed that their cargoes were already committed elsewhere.
This situation has hindered the refinery’s operations and raised concerns about the regulatory framework governing crude oil supply in Nigeria.
“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,” he said.
