Dangote refinery seeks to expand crude imports

Nigeria’s Dangote refinery is negotiating with Libya to secure crude for its 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) plant and plans to seek Angolan oil as well. This effort aims to overcome issues with domestic supplies.

The $20 billion refinery, built by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote near Lagos, is Africa’s largest and intended to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuels due to inadequate refining capacity.

Since operations began in January, Dangote has struggled to get sufficient crude in Nigeria, which faces theft, pipeline vandalism, and low investment. Consequently, Dangote has been importing crude from Brazil and the United States.

“We are talking to Libya about importing crude,” said senior executive Devakumar Edwin. “We will talk to Angola as well and some other countries in Africa.”

Edwin declined to detail the talks but mentioned that international traders and oil companies are key buyers of Dangote’s gasoil, much of which is exported. “The biggest offtakers are Trafigura, Vitol, BP, and, to some extent, TotalEnergies,” he said.

Data shows Dangote is increasing gasoil exports to West Africa, taking market share from European refiners.

Dangote’s oil trading arm, with staff in London and Lagos, is operational to manage supplies and sales. The upstream regulator claims the sulphur content in Dangote’s gasoil exceeds the 200 parts per million (ppm) limit, but Aliko Dangote disputes this, stating it has dropped to 88 ppm and will fall to 10 ppm by early August.

Attribution: Reuters citing source