August 09, (THEWILL) – The Management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has urged the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), to fully enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as specified in the Petroleum industry Act (PIA).
Speaking on Friday night, Anthony Chiejina, Spokesperson of the Dangote Group, reiterated that refineries in Nigeria be allowed to buy crude directly from the companies that produce it in Nigeria rather than from international middlemen, as enshrined in the PIA act.
“We are in receipt of NUPRC’s statement that they have facilitated the allocation of 29 million barrels of crude oil to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, we would likewise to thank them for this allocation but at the same time we wish to let them know that we are yet to receive these cargoes.
“Aside from the term supply we bilaterally negotiated with NNPCL, so far NUPRC has only facilitated the purchase of one crude cargo from a domestic producer. The rest of the cargoes we have processed were purchased from international traders.
“All we are asking for, is for refineries in Nigeria to buy crude directly from the companies that produce it in Nigeria rather than from international middlemen. This is specified in the PIA. Unfortunately, the NUPRC has effectively admitted in their statement that they will be unable to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as specified in the PIA citing “sanctity of contracts” as an excuse”, said Chiejina.
THEWILL earlier reported that the management of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery had insisted that it was not yet getting enough crude required for the effective optimisation of its refinery from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL).
THEWILL further reported a statement signed on Thursday, by Anthony Chiejina, the Group Chief, Branding and Communications Officer, which said the Refinery is still unable to secure full crude requirement from domestic production.
The statement followed media reports which alleged that Dangote Refinery had backtracked by acknowledging that NNPC supplied about 60% of the 50 million barrels lifted.
Chiejina clarified that his company has never accused NNPC of not supplying “…us with crude. Our concern has always been NUPRC’s reluctance to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation and ensure that we receive our full crude requirement from NNPC and the IOCs.
“We, therefore, still insist that we are unable to secure our full crude requirement from domestic production and urge the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), to fully enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as mandated by the PIA”.
Chiejina further explained that “for September, our requirement is 15 cargoes, of which NNPC allocated six. Despite appealing to NUPRC, we’ve been unable to secure the remaining cargoes. When we approached IOCs producing in Nigeria, they redirected us to their international trading arms or responded that their cargoes were committed.
“Consequently, we often purchase the same Nigerian crude from international traders at an additional $3-$4 premium per barrel which translates to $3-$4 million per cargo.”
