Nigeria's Dangote refinery held 13% of crude exports

Dangote Petroleum Refinery kept 13% of Nigeria's crude oil exports
Nigeria purchased 47,000 barrels of US oil per day in 2024
The Dangote refinery relied on expensive crude imports from the United States due to difficulties accessing locally produced crude

In what experts describe as unusual for an oil-producing nation, Nigeria, a significant net exporter of petroleum, purchased 47,000 barrels of US oil per day in 2024.

The report originally issued by Reuters, as seen in the Punch newspaper went on to reveal that the Dangote refinery, along with other new refineries that emerged in the global south, has reputedly altered the global crude flow in the face of sanctions on Russian oil.

Nigeria's crude imports from the US surged in part because of the Dangote Petroleum refinery, which has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.

Last year, the Dangote refinery had to acquire oil from the international market due to concerns that oil majors were preventing it from accessing locally produced crude by selling it at a higher price or saying it was unavailable.

As a result, the refinery had to rely on expensive crude imports, notably from the United States.

In October, it was reported that Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote had set his sights on crude oil exploration.

The initial timeframe for this was in the fourth quarter of 2024, but Dangote's crude production would begin in 2025.

This decision to begin oil exploration came after a two-month back and forth over crude delivery between Dangote and Nigerian officials.

As per a prior report by the PUNCH, the Dangote refinery received its first supply of US WTI in November 2024.

The largest single-train refinery in the world received constant shipments from the US, increasing Nigeria's imports from the US in 2024, while the Nigerian National Petroleum Company failed to provide crude oil to the plant.

Dangote Refinery Pulse Nigeria

Considering the increased demand for fuel from local refineries, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited may be able to fulfill its crude-for-loan obligations till 2029.

NNPCL's debt load is a product of several crude-for-loan deals that have linked amounts of the country's oil output to various financial commitments.

Source: PUNCH