Dangote Refinery Set to Import 12M Barrels of Crude from US – Report 

Dangote Refinery plans to import 12 million barrels of crude oil from the United States, marking a significant step in its operations, according to a recent report.

According to The Africa Report on Monday, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is expected to obtain as many as 12 million barrels of crude oil from the United States due to difficulties in securing local supplies.

The $20 billion refinery, targeting a full refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by June 2025, has turned to importing crude oil because the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) cannot supply enough locally.

The crude oil shipment has already left the United States and is projected to reach Nigeria next month. This initiative is expected to enhance the refinery’s production efforts and make a substantial contribution to Nigeria’s energy market.

An insider source informed The Africa Report that approximately 12 million barrels of crude have left the US and are expected to reach Nigeria by February.

Dangote Petroleum Refinery is increasing its crude oil imports because supply from NNPC has become inadequate for fuel production at the $20 billion facility located in Lekki.

Plant officials stated that the facility has increased production to approximately 500,000 barrels per day, aiming to reach a target of 650,000 barrels per day by June this year.

Sources informed our correspondent that, despite the confirmation of President Bola Tinubu’s directive last year to continue the naira-for-crude deal, the facility will need to import additional crude to reach its target.

The NNPC is reportedly finding it difficult to deliver 350,000 barrels per day to the Dangote refinery from the 450,000 barrels per day of crude oil allocated for Nigeria’s domestic use.

Officials stated that, given the current production capacity of 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), it is necessary to seek feedstock beyond Nigeria’s borders.

It was reported that the state-owned oil company, NNPC, cannot supply all of the feedstock required by the refinery each day.

Remember that in July, President Tinubu instructed the NNPC to sell crude oil to domestic refineries using naira.

In October, the committee overseeing the naira-for-crude agreement began exclusively selling crude oil to the Dangote refinery in exchange for naira. They stated that sales would be limited to refineries producing petrol.

However, as the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries become operational, additional refineries may be included in the naira-for-crude arrangement.

The Dangote refinery is expected to need 550,000 barrels of Nigerian crude oil each day, totaling 17.05 million barrels monthly and approximately 99.55 million barrels between January and June 2025. This requirement aligns with the crude oil production forecast by producing companies and the refining demand from operational refineries in Nigeria as endorsed by Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

The Dangote refinery is in the process of constructing eight additional tanks to store imported crude oil. This move comes as the facility plans to accumulate a reserve of imported crude due to unreliable local supplies.

Refinery officials stated that the limited supply of crude from the NNPC “is increasing reliance on imports.”

Constructing eight more tanks will increase the refinery’s crude storage capacity by 41.67%, reaching a total of 3.4 billion liters.

“The Vice President of the oil and gas division at Dangote Industries, Devakumar Edwin, recently stated that importing crude from abroad rather than sourcing it locally will necessitate maintaining higher crude stockpiles.”

In May 2024, the refinery reportedly issued a term tender to purchase two million barrels of West Texas Intermediate Midland crude each month for 12 months beginning in July of the previous year, totaling 24 million barrels over one year.

The Dangote refinery presently provides petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel to Nigeria as well as other countries.