The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has resumed the acquisition of crude oil from the United States as part of its ongoing efforts to increase oil production and refinery capacity.
The new purchase comes after a three-month sabbatical from acquiring crude from foreign countries, with the focus being on domestic supply.
According to Bloomberg on Wednesday, the cargo carrying two million barrels of WTI Midland crude from Chevron Corp. will be delivered to the refinery next month.
The recent event may indicate that the Federal Government’s naira-for-crude scheme has stopped or that the refinery is not receiving enough crude supply from Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL.
“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,” the report said.
Chevron has chartered the supertanker Azure Nova to load crude from the US Gulf to Dangote around December 5, according to tanker fittings obtained by Bloomberg.
Earlier this year, Dangote would receive one or two supertankers of US crude every month, in addition to domestic supply.
However, these imports were curtailed around August following an arrangement with the federal government under which the NNPCL would supply crude oil to the refinery in naira rather than dollars.
The agreement stipulated that the refinery would accept up to 400,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude paid for in local currency.
Dangote is playing an increasingly important role in the US and European oil markets, having gradually increased his purchases of petroleum from Nigeria and the US.
The plant’s tug on those barrels raises competition for oil among typical European buyers.
According to the report, the reasons for the return to US imports are unknown, while a report from Sparta Commodities earlier this week implies that decreasing shipping costs may have lately made US oil more inexpensive in Europe.
It was gathered on Monday that the refinery was looking to raise billions of dollars to import crude oil and boost production.
According to the article, Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, is in talks with commercial lenders, development banks, oil dealers, and other industry participants to acquire financing for crude supplies to be refined.
According to the research, the refinery would require a minimum supply of 300,000 barrels per day to meet its capability.
On Tuesday, the plant began transporting refined petroleum products to West African countries, signalling to traders that the mega refinery’s operations may soon disrupt regional fuel markets.
On Wednesday, the Dangote Group said that it has built a refinery in Nigeria, something that multinational oil firms were unable to do.
Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Oil and Gas of Dangote Industries Limited, made the statement while receiving members of the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment at the refinery facility in Lekki, Lagos State.
During the visit headed by the committee’s chairman, Sadiq Umar, Edwin told the senators that the Dangote Group did something that Shell, Chevron, and ExxonMobil had never done anywhere on the globe.
According to him, a Nigerian corporation accepted the task of building the world’s largest single-train refinery.
He stated that around six companies around the world could do the same.
“Here, a Nigerian company took up the challenge that nobody like Shell, 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,” he said.
Speaking, Umar, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, told the refinery that the National Assembly will support it.
According to him, the $20 billion project is a national treasure that must be safeguarded.
“For us as legislators, you can rest assured that we know what you have done here and 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.
“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.
“I am sure you can see a lot of actions in what the president has done to support him so that the country will be better for it,” the senator said.
Located in Lagos’ Lekki Free Zone, the 650,000-capacity facility commenced production in January of this year, supplying diesel and aviation fuel to the local market while exporting to other nations.
In September, the factory began producing premium motor spirits. This comes after weeks of disagreements with IOCs over crude supplies.
Aliko Dangote, the President of the Dangote Group, has repeatedly accused the IOCs of refusing to sell crude to him, claiming that it was an attempt to sabotage the refinery.
Following presidential involvement, the refinery began receiving crude in naira, boosting the local supply of petrol in naira.
It was learnt that the refinery may soon sell petrol to other West African countries.
