August 08, (THEWILL) –The Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd has urged the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), to fully enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as mandated by the Petroleum industry Act (PIA).
A statement signed by Anthony Chiejina, the Group Chief, Branding and Communications Officer, said the Refinery is still unable to secure full crude requirement from domestic production.
The statement follows media reports which alleged that Dangote Refinery had backtracked by acknowledging that NNPC supplied about 60% of the 50 million barrels lifted.
However, the Company maintained that the NUPRC has been reluctant to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation to ensure it receive full crude requirement from NNPC and the International oil companies (IOCs).
The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to media reports alleging that the Dangote Refinery has backtracked by acknowledging that NNPC supplied about 60% of the 50 million barrels we lifted.
“To clarify, we have 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.
“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.
“We, therefore, still insist that we are unable to secure our full crude requirement from domestic production and urge NUPRC to fully enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as mandated by the PIA.”
