After a three-month break, the Dangote Refinery has resumed importing crude oil from the US.
The move comes as the facility ramps production to meet growing domestic and regional demands.
A recent report disclosed on Wednesday, November 20, 2024 that a cargo carrying two million barrels of West Texas Intermediate crude from Chevron Corp will be delivered to the refinery in December.
The shipment will reportedly arrive at the plant in Lagos next month.
The new development comes three months after the $20 billion refinery promised to buy only Nigerian crude.
The refinery had struggled to source crude from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), leading to imports from the US and Brazil.
Reports say the reason was that the refinery bought crude from oil companies, including the NNPC, in dollars, prompting the Nigerian government to sell crude to it in naira.
Blomberg revealed that the 650,000bpd-capacity refinery may have opted to import from the US again despite the naira-for-crude sale arrangement with the Nigerian authorities.
Bloomberg quotes an anonymous source as saying that the refinery acquired two million barrels of WTI Midland crude from Chevron Corp., which will be delivered in December.
An expert says the mega refinery can import crude despite its standing arrangement with the NNPC to buy the commodity in local currency.
Energy policy analyst Adeola Yusuf said the refinery can import crude from any country to meet its production demands.
Meanwhile, the NNPCL has commenced international sales of its latest crude oil grade, the Utapate crude oil blend.
According to a statement by Olufemi Soneye, NNPCL’s chief corporate communications o, the new grade was unveiled to European crude oil marketers at the ongoing Argus European Crude Conference in London.
The development comes six months after exploration began at the Utapate field in Akwa Ibom State.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that the Dangote Refinery had reached a landmark agreement with the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to supply 60 million litres of petrol weekly, averaging 240 million litres monthly.
The arrangement would begin in the coming weeks and will give IPMAN about 240 million litres of petrol monthly, boosting the association’s distribution capacity.
IPMAN’s national publicity secretary, Chinedu Ukadike, said the deal would allow its members to lift petrol directly from the Dangote Refinery without involving intermediaries.
Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at TimesNow.com.ng
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
