Nigeria supplying about 30% of needed volumes, says Dangote Refinery

The Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Dangote Refinery, David Bird, on Wednesday raised concerns over Nigeria’s inability to supply sufficient crude oil to the facility, disclosing that deliveries under the government’s crude supply arrangement are falling significantly short of agreed volumes. 

Speaking in an interview on Arise Television, Bird said the refinery, which is currently operating at its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, requires between 13 and 15 cargoes of crude monthly to meet domestic fuel demand. 

He, however, said the refinery is only receiving about five cargoes, representing just about 30 per cent of expected supply. He explained that the gap undermines the effectiveness of the Crude-for-Naira arrangement, a policy designed to supply crude to local refiners at international prices but without foreign exchange exposure. 

According to him, while the initiative has helped stabilise Nigeria’s foreign exchange pressures, its implementation has been inconsistent, particularly in terms of both volume and crude quality allocation.