Dangote Petroleum Refinery, a key player in Nigeria's oil industry, is currently facing significant challenges as the Nigerian government attempts to implement a new scheme for selling crude oil priced in naira.
This initiative, which began on October 5, aims to focus on local supply and reduce dependency on foreign currency transactions. However, the execution of this plan has been fraught with difficulties.
The refinery, which requires 650,000 barrels per day to operate optimally, has an agreement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) to receive at least 385,000 barrels daily. Yet, according to Edwin Devakumar, Vice-President of Dangote Industries Limited, the deliveries have been far from adequate.
He described the current supply from NNPC as "peanuts," highlighting the severe shortfall that threatens the refinery's operations.
This issue is not isolated to the Dangote Refinery alone. Mathins Obaze, acting executive director of the Crude Oil Refinery-owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN), pointed out that while the Dangote refinery is the only one benefiting from the naira-denominated crude sales, other refineries are still struggling to access crude under this scheme.
To address these challenges, there is a pressing need for the Nigerian government to ensure equitable access to crude supplies for all refineries.
This would not only stabilize operations at the Dangote Refinery but also support the broader goal of enhancing local refining capacity across the country.
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