The highly-touted Dangote Refinery, set to produce 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year, is struggling to find enough domestic crude to keep its gears turning. Despite its 650,000-bpd capacity, Africa’s largest refinery has only managed to receive a measly five crude cargoes from the state oil firm NNPC since kicking off operations earlier this year—far short of the 15 expected.
In a statement dripping with frustration, Chief Executive Aliko Dangote explained, “We’ve resorted to importing Brazilian and U.S. crude because whenever we approach international oil companies (IOCs), they tell us to go through brokers.” Adding insult to injury, these brokers are slapping a hefty $4 mark-up per barrel, driving up costs even further.
This monumental refinery, which cost a staggering $20 billion to construct and only began production in January after multiple delays, was supposed to be a game-changer for Nigeria’s oil sector. NNPC had previously agreed to supply the refinery with 300,000 bpd, but they’re now grappling with dismal production levels and diverting some of their crude for gasoline imports.
So here we are, with a shiny new refinery forced to scour the globe for crude, thanks to a chronic inability to meet local supply needs. The much-anticipated dream of energy self-sufficiency appears to be nothing more than another chapter in Nigeria’s long history of grandiose plans gone awry.
