The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is planning to import more crude oil as supply from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited becomes insufficient for fuel production at the $20bn Lekki-based facility.
Officials at the plant said the facility has ramped up production to about 500,000 barrels per day, with the target of hitting the 650,000bpd mark by June this year.
While affirming that the naira-for-crude deal is still on as directed by President Bola Tinubu last year, the sources, who spoke in confidence due to lack of authorisation to speak to the press, maintained that the facility will have to import more crude to meet its target.
For the 650,000-capacity refinery, the NNPC is reportedly struggling to supply 350,000bpd from the 450,000bpd crude meant for Nigeria’s local consumption.
With its current production capacity of 500,000bpd, officials said there is a need to look beyond the shores of Nigeria for the feedstock.
According to them, the claim is not that the NNPC cannot supply crude, but that the feedstock needed by the refinery daily cannot be solely supplied by the state-owned oil company.
