Dangote Oil Refinery Denies Allegations of Reselling Crude Oil
The Dangote Oil Refinery has refuted claims that it has been reselling cargoes of crude oil purchased from the United States and Nigeria to other traders. Tony Chiejina, the spokesperson for the Dangote Group, labeled these reports as blatant falsehoods.
Reuters had reported that technical problems at the refinery might have led to the reoffer of crude, citing three of four trade sources familiar with the situation. However, Chiejina countered these claims, asserting that the refinery is actively sourcing crude from Angola and Libya, and the crude distillation unit (CDU) is operating efficiently.
“Outright falsehood, we are sourcing more crude from Angola and Libya. Also, our crude distillation unit is functioning perfectly well. You may wish to visit the refinery even today or tomorrow,” Chiejina told our correspondent on Saturday.
In a follow-up statement on Saturday, Chiejina further urged the public to disregard the misleading reports, emphasizing that they aim to undermine the refinery’s operations.
“Our attention has been drawn to a misleading report suggesting that our refinery’s crude distillation unit (CDU) is experiencing issues and that we are reselling crude oil. We categorically deny these claims. The Dangote refinery is not authorized to sell crude oil purchased from Nigeria, and our CDU is fully operational and functioning optimally. We advise the public to disregard these false narratives, which are likely driven by interests opposed to the local refining of fuels,” he said.
The 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery commenced operations earlier this year, despite facing challenges related to crude shortages. Sources indicated that cargoes of Nigerian Escravos and Forcados, along with US WTI Midland, were among the crude grades offered.
In recent statements, Mr. DVG Edwin, Vice President of Oil & Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, alleged that international oil companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria have been consistently frustrating the refinery’s efforts to procure locally produced crude. He claimed that the IOCs were inflating prices above market rates by $6, forcing the refinery to import crude from distant countries like the US, thereby increasing production costs.
“It seems that the IOCs’ objective is to ensure that our petroleum refinery fails. It is either they are deliberately asking for a ridiculous and humongous premium or they simply state that crude is not available. At some point, we paid $6 over and above the market price. This has forced us to reduce our output as well as import crude from countries as far as the US, increasing our cost of production.
It appears that the objective of the IOCs is to ensure that Nigeria remains a country, which exports crude oil and imports refined petroleum products. They are keen on exporting the raw materials to their home countries, creating employment and wealth for their countries, adding to their Gross Domestic Product, and dumping the expensive refined products into Nigeria, thus making us dependent on imported products,” Edwin stated.
The Dangote Oil Refinery continues to seek solutions to these challenges as it aims to bolster Nigeria’s local refining capabilities and reduce dependence on imported petroleum products
