Kehinde Fajobi
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has resumed importing crude oil from the United States, securing two million barrels of WTI Midland crude from Chevron Corporation.
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the shipment is expected to arrive at the refinery in December aboard the supertanker Azure Nova.
This development follows a three-month break in foreign crude imports as the refinery relied on domestic crude supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) under a naira-for-crude arrangement.
The agreement, reached earlier this year, stipulated that the refinery would receive up to 400,000 barrels of Nigerian crude daily, paid for in naira rather than dollars.
“Dangote refinery purchased its first shipment of US oil after a hiatus of three months as the site continues to ramp up production.
“The plant purchased about two million barrels of WTI Midland crude from Chevron Corp,” Bloomberg stated.
The reasons for resuming US crude purchases remain unclear.
However, a report by Sparta Commodities suggested that reduced shipping costs might have made US oil more competitive in Europe, where the Dangote Refinery vies for crude supply.
Since its commissioning in January, the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery, located in the Lekki Free Zone, has been refining diesel and aviation fuel for domestic and international markets.
It began producing premium motor spirit (petrol) in September after resolving supply issues with international oil companies (IOCs).
Earlier this week, the refinery began shipping refined petroleum products to West African countries, signalling its readiness to influence regional fuel markets.
However, ongoing supply challenges have reportedly driven the Dangote Group to seek billions of dollars in funding from commercial lenders, development banks, and oil traders to secure crude for refining.
The Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, commended the refinery’s achievements during a visit by the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment on Wednesday.
Edwin noted that the Dangote Group had accomplished what major IOCs such as Shell, Chevron, and ExxonMobil had never done.
“Here, a Nigerian company took up the challenge, which nobody like Shell or Chevron or ExxonMobil has ever done in any part of the world.
“So, the Nigerian company—Dangote Projects Limited—took up the challenge and built the refinery on time. And this is the world’s largest single-train refinery,” Edwin stated.
The Senate Committee’s chairman, Sadiq Umar, assured the refinery of legislative support, describing the $20 billion project as a national asset.
Umar remarked, “For us as legislators, you can rest assured that we know what you have done here, we know what it means to the country. We will do anything within our power to see how we support you to succeed so that Nigeria can succeed.”
He added, “This investment we have seen here is an investment for the country and for the world, not necessarily for Dangote himself. It is our responsibility to see what we need to do to encourage him.”
Aliko Dangote, chairman of the Dangote Group, had previously accused IOCs of sabotaging the refinery by refusing to sell crude.
After presidential interventions, the NNPCL began supplying crude in naira to support local production.
The refinery’s expanding operations, including a growing presence in global oil markets, are expected to heighten competition for crude supply with traditional European buyers.