Aliko Dangote, Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Refinery, has announced that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) now holds only a 7.2% stake in the refinery, down from the initial 20%. This reduction is due to NNPC’s failure to fulfill its payment obligations by the June deadline.
Speaking to journalists in Lagos on Sunday, Dangote explained, “NNPC no longer owns a 20% stake in the Dangote refinery. They were meant to pay their balance in June but have yet to fulfill the obligations. Now, they only own a 7.2% stake in the refinery.”
At a one-day training programme organized by the Dangote Group on Friday, Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, accused International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria of attempting to undermine the new Dangote Oil Refinery and Petrochemicals. Edwin also criticized the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority for granting licenses to marketers to import substandard refined products into the country.
Edwin noted that although the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission was making efforts to allocate crude oil for the refinery’s 650,000-barrel capacity, the IOCs were intentionally inflating prices above market rates, forcing the refinery to import crude from distant countries like the United States at higher costs.
Despite these challenges, the Federal Government and crude oil producers in Nigeria have committed to ensuring a sustainable supply of crude oil to local refineries under a market-determined pricing system. This commitment aims to balance the optimal business operations of crude oil producers with the need to supply refineries with feedstock.
The Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has directed oil refiners in the country to provide monthly price quotes on crude supply to support this commitment.
According to a Bloomberg report, the Dangote refinery is set to import a cargo of Brazilian crude, adding to the significant volume of overseas crude feedstock already being imported by the Nigerian firm.
Source: Punch