Tinubu Okays Crude Oil Supply to Dangote Refinery

Tinubu intervenes in Dangote Refinery dispute, orders crude oil supply...

President Tinubu directs NNPCL to supply crude oil to Dangote Refinery in Naira, amid controversy over alleged crude oil reselling, which Dangote Group denies, citing ongoing imports from Angola and Libya and functional crude distillation unit.

President Bola Tinubu has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to supply crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other newly established refineries, with payments to be made in Naira.

According to Bayo Onanuga, the President's Special Adviser on Information and Publicity, this decision was made by the Federal Executive Council on July 29. Onanuga announced the update on his official X handle, explaining that the move aims to achieve two key objectives: stabilizing the price of refined fuel and strengthening the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Naira.

Dangote Refinery requires 15 shipments of crude oil per year, totaling $13.5 billion. NNPCL has committed to supplying four of these shipments. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a plan to sell 450,000 barrels of crude oil, earmarked for domestic use, to Nigerian refineries in Naira. Dangote Refinery will be the first to benefit from this arrangement, serving as a pilot test.

The statement added, “The exchange rate will be fixed for the duration of this transaction.

“Afreximbank and other settlement banks in Nigeria will facilitate the trade between Dangote and NNPCL. The game-changing intervention will eliminate the need for international letters of credit, further saving the country of dollar payments.”

President Tinubu's instruction comes on the heels of a recent controversy surrounding Dangote Oil Refinery. The refinery had been accused of reselling crude oil shipments purchased from the US and Nigeria to other traders, but the company vehemently denied these claims.

Read Also: Dangote Refutes Allegations of Crude Oil Resale

Dangote Group's spokesperson, Tony Chiejina, dismissed the allegations as “completely false” on July 27. The denial followed a report by an international media outlet, which cited four trade sources claiming that technical issues at the refinery had led to the reselling of three cargoes of crude oil.

Despite the controversy, Dangote Group's spokesperson, Tony Chiejina, clarified that the refinery continues to import crude oil from Angola and Libya, and assured that the crude distillation unit is functioning properly, contradicting earlier reports of technical issues.