Due to the ongoing crisis, Dangote Refinery has disclosed that it is planning to purchase crude oil from Brazil and America since the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, or NNPC, is unable to meet its production needs.
This was disclosed by Rabiu A. Umar, Group Chief Commercial Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, during an interview with reporters in Kano.
Umar said that the refinery needs to go elsewhere for the remaining 67% of its crude supply in order to satisfy its production capacity, as NNPC only provides 33% of the oil to the refinery.
He stated that the refinery, which can process 650,000 barrels of oil a day, could not rely on the Nigerian oil company’s limited supply.
By August, Umar claimed, the refinery had completed plans to supply crude oil from the United States and Brazil.
“First of all the refinery is here in Nigeria. We have the crude oil here in Nigeria. We thought we would get the crude oil here and refined it here in our refinery for the benefit of the country and the citizens.
“Ironically, the country takes the crude oil overseas for refining while we have a refinery, one of the biggest in the world.
“So, we will not stay idle. We have to look for other sources to meet our production capacity. If we get the crude oil supply here in the country we have no reason to go overseas.
“Even now, we are planning to supply crude oil from countries like Brazil and USA,” he said.
He said that the refinery has been supplying other nations since February and that they get orders for supplies, particularly aviation gasoline, from many nations.
The refinery requires 15 cargoes of crude oil in September, but NNPCL only committed to deliver 5. The Chief Commercial Officer bemoaned this and said they saw the government’s indifferent treatment of the refinery as sabotage.
He said the government should embrace and celebrate the refinery instead of demonizing it because it employs more than 50,000 people and is currently the largest employer in the country.
He stressed that the refinery had gotten off to a good start despite the misleading narratives spread by the government, as seen by the world-class quality of its refined products.
He claimed that even the House of Representatives, led by its speaker, had visited the refinery, noticed the improvements, and was pleased with the caliber of the output.
“We are here to defend ourselves and all the government narratives are not true. We urge the people to take samples of our products to ascertain their quality.
“We will not be deterred by the government’s criticism. We will continue until we reach the promised land,” Umar stated.
Remember that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the NNPCL, and the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, were embroiled in a legal battle that involved accusations of monopoly, the supply of crude for the refinery, the importation of subpar fuel, and ownership of blending plants in Malta.
