LAGOS — The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has doubled its crude oil supply to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, delivering 10 cargoes in March as part of a strategic push to bolster domestic fuel security.
The increased allocation, which Aliko Dangote told Bloomberg on Tuesday, represents a significant jump from the previous average of five cargoes per month. The boost comes amid heightening global energy pressures, with Brent crude prices hovering above $110 per barrel due to sustained supply disruptions in the Middle East.
Under the current arrangement, six of the ten cargoes were supplied in naira, while the remaining four were transactions settled in US dollars. This dual-currency approach is part of an ongoing framework intended to reduce the pressure on Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves.
“Nigeria doubled crude supply to Dangote Refinery in March as Africa’s top oil producer moved to shore up fuel availability after the Iran war disrupted Middle East shipments. Last month, they gave us six cargoes with payments in naira and four cargoes with payments in dollars,” Dangote stated.
Despite the supply hike, the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery is still operating below its peak requirement. Dangote noted that the facility needs approximately 19 cargoes monthly to run at full capacity, leaving a nine-cargo deficit that the refinery currently fills through imports from the United States and other African nations.
The surge in domestic crude allocation is expected to improve the availability of refined products in the Nigerian market, potentially easing the logistics costs associated with importing gasoline and diesel during a period of extreme global price volatility.
