60% of our crude feedstock supplied by NNPC, says Dangote refinery

The Dangote refinery says since it commenced full operations, it has processed 50 million barrels of crude — with 60 percent of its feedstock coming from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

Aliyu Suleiman, the group chief strategy officer of Dangote refinery, spoke when he appeared before an ad hoc senate committee on August 7.

The committee, led by Opeyemi Bamidele, the senate majority leader, is probing the alleged importation of substandard petroleum products into the country.

In his presentation, Suleiman said while the NNPC supplied 60 percent of the total processed crude, 20 percent was imported, and 20 percent was purchased.

‘DANGOTE REFINERY CALLS FOR FAIR CRUDE PRICES’

He commended the NNPC for making the supply to the Dangote refinery.

“About 60 percent of that came from the NNPC, and we are thankful and grateful to them for their support,” he said.

“About 20 percent of that (crude) had to be imported from outside and the other 20 percent we purchased.

“Essentially, all we are asking for, and let us be very clear, we are happy to pay fair prices.

“We are very happy with the price that they set. The price is like supermarkets and that is what we buy.

“But what we buy from others is what we think the regulator should look at and the good thing is that the regulator has published a guideline that will address some of these.

“We hope that we will work with the regulator and we will get their support so that the refinery can get 100 percent of its crude from Nigeria and buy the crude from companies that produce it in Nigeria — not from international middlemen.

“Whatever the prices, as long as it is in Nigeria, and that is the price also that the producer will pay their tax on, we’ll be happy to pay that.”

Suleiman said the country would benefit tremendously from the refinery, outlining the benefits to include foreign exchange (FX) generation and job creation.

More importantly, he said the country would benefit psychologically as Nigerians, and Africans in general, will be confident that the continent can succeed.

On June 4, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, said the NNPC has been very helpful in providing crude to the 650,000 barrels-a-day refinery.

However, he said some international oil companies (IOCs) are struggling to supply crude to his refinery.

Speaking on Arise TV on July 15, Gbenga Komolafe, chief executive officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), described the claim as “erroneous”, noting that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has provisions that guide willing buyer-willing seller transactions.

But a few days later, the management of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) insisted that the IOCs were frustrating its request to purchase crude feedstock for the refinery.