Nigeria's Dangote Refinery and others are seeking 597,700 barrels per day of oil in the face of tight supply
The Nigerian oil regulator announced that despite a tight supply, Nigerian refineries, including the Dangote refinery, have increased their domestic crude needs for the second half 2024 from 483,000 barrels per day in the first.
In a Friday statement, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission said that it was only able secure 177.777 bpd of oil from producers, which is far below the amount the refiners requested.
In particular, the Dangote Refinery with its 650,000 bpd capacity is at odds because of the rising demand for crude oil and the difficulty that producers have in meeting it.
Dangote Refinery accused the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission of failing to enforce a rule that requires oil producers supply domestic refiners. In a Friday statement, it said that lax enforcement increased its operational costs.
Due to a lack of crude oil in the country, the refinery, the largest in Africa says that it will have to import more crude due to its insufficient supply. This could affect its plans for this year as well as its future prospects.
NUPRC stated that oil producers were unable to meet the demand because some faced operational difficulties, while others had pledged most their production to traders who funded drilling. The NUPRC said that forcing oil producers to increase their supply would be a violation of their contracts.
The regulator's statement of Friday also projected a national average crude production of 1.7 millions bpd in December 2024. This is higher than the 1,57 million bpd that it had projected for January to July, but which producers failed to meet.
In a statement, Gbenga Kmolafe said that the data provided by the NUPRC was crucial to understanding Nigeria's energy landscape for the second half 2024.
NUPRC data revealed that eight refineries will be operational by August with a total capacity of 864.500 bpd. This means that oil producers are required to provide more than half.
TotalEnergies, Chevron Shell, ExxonMobil and other major oil companies will provide the crude oil, mostly through their joint ventures with the Nigerian state oil company, NNPCL.
(source: Reuters)
