Newsone Nigeria reports that Dangote Industries Limited has clarified that it never accused the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) of not supplying crude to its refinery.
In a statement signed by Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief, Branding and Communications Officer of Dangote, on Thursday, August 8, 2024, obtained by Newsone, the company said contrary to claims that the Dangote Refinery backtracked on its allegations of the NNPCL not supplying it crude oil, it said its “concern has always been NUPRC’s reluctance to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation”.
“Our attention has been drawn to media reports alleging that the Dangote Refinery has backtracked by acknowledging that NNPC supplied about 60% of the 50 million barrels we lifted,” the statement by the Group Chief Branding & Communications Officer Anthony Chiejina read.
“To clarify, we have never accused NNPC of not supplying us with crude. Our concern has always been NUPRC’s reluctance to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation, and ensuring that we receive our full crude requirement from NNPC and the IOCs.”
According to him, while the September requirement for the refinery is 15 cargoes, six were allocated to the NNPCL.
“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,” it said.
“Consequently, we often purchase the same Nigerian crude from international traders at an additional $3-$4 premium per barrel which translates to $3-$4 million per cargo. We therefore still insist that we are unable to secure our full crude requirement from domestic production and urge NUPRC to fully enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as mandated by the PIA.”