Dangote Group has said that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) is still reluctant to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as contained in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The company’s spokesman Anthony Chiejina stated this in a press release on Thursday, adding that contrary to reports, Dangote never accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) of not supplying it with crude.
“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,” said Chiejina.
“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.”
