The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has set plans in motion to import more crude oil as supply from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited becomes insufficient for fuel production at the $20bn Lekki-based facility.
Officials at the plant said the facility has ramped up production to about 500,000 barrels per day, with the target of hitting the 650,000bpd mark by June this year.
While affirming that the naira-for-crude deal is still on as directed by President Bola Tinubu last year, the sources, who spoke in confidence due to lack of authorisation to speak to the press, maintained that the facility will have to import more crude to meet its target.
For the 650,000-capacity refinery, the NNPC is reportedly struggling to supply 350,000bpd from the 450,000bpd crude meant for Nigeria’s local consumption.
With its current production capacity of 500,000bpd, officials said there is a need to look beyond the shores of Nigeria for the feedstock.
According to them, the claim is not that the NNPC cannot supply crude, but that the feedstock needed by the refinery daily cannot be solely supplied by the state-owned oil company.
Asked if the refinery plans to import more crude now that the NNPC refineries are coming back on stream, one of the impeccable sources at the plant replied, “Of course!
“This is a 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery. And as you know, we are also ramping up. You see, maybe by the middle of the year, we will hit 650,000. Do you know what 650,000bpd means?“
Another source corroborated this, saying, “It is not that anybody is saying NNPC cannot do it. No! But you look at what we have. We are not a 200,000bpd refinery. We are talking about 650,000 barrels.
“Currently, we are at 500,000bpd; we will ramp to 650,000 by midyear. You know what it means? So, it is a normal process to source crude oil anywhere it is available.”
