The Dangote Petrochemical Refinery will receive at least five million barrels of imported crude oil within the four weeks of July.
A report by Reuters said the import delivery consisted of US West Texas Intermediate crude.
According to the report seen on Saturday, the refinery has awarded tenders for the purchase of around 161,000 barrels per day of US crude to be delivered in July.
The final totals for the month may change if the refinery makes more purchases.
This follows earlier deals for June cargoes amounting to roughly 300,000 bpd, the largest volume of WTI ever booked by the refinery in a single month.
“Nigeria’s Dangote oil refinery will import at least five million barrels of US WTI crude oil in July, three trading sources told Reuters, extending its buying spree after a potential record tally for June.
“The giant new 650,000 barrel per day capacity oil refinery is set to import around 161,000 bpd of WTI in July after awarding tenders in recent days, the sources said, off the back of a record 300,000 bpd booked in its June tenders,” the Reuters report read in part.
The 650,000 bpd-capacity plant, located in Lagos, is increasingly turning to foreign crude to meet its operational needs.
“We can take only what they are giving to us from Nigeria; this is a known fact. We have to import the rest,” the report quoted Edwin Devakumar, Head of the Dangote Oil Refinery, as saying.
The report, citing three trading sources, also indicated that Vitol would supply two million barrels for the July shipment, Socar (Azerbaijan’s state oil firm) another two million, and Glencore, the remaining one million.
Although the plant’s crude slate is primarily Nigerian, Dangote has been steadily importing WTI since March 2024, and has also bought spot cargoes from Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Algeria, and Brazil this year.
Data from shipping analytics firm Kpler shows that in April, the refinery set its previous US import record at 173,000 bpd.
The increased procurement of US crude also reflects shifting global market dynamics.
The report highlighted that traders said US barrels, particularly WTI, were facing stiff competition in Asia, where spot premiums for UAE’s Murban crude had hit a six-month low.
As a result, suppliers are eyeing African buyers like Dangote as alternative export destinations.
The refinery is expected to operate at reduced rates through to October due to a series of issues in recent months, according to industry monitor, IIR.
The refinery is now ramping towards 85 per cent (552,500 barrels) operating capacity, a spokesperson for the refinery told Reuters.
It has been running at around 80 per cent since mid-March, IIR said.
Meanwhile, Oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria increased their borrowing from deposit money banks by N3.25tn between December 2023 and December 2024, according to figures obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Data from the CBN’s quarterly bulletin showed that the total credit extended to oil and gas firms rose from N8.36tn in December 2023 to N11.61tn in December 2024, representing a 38.8 per cent increase within the one-year period.
This comes amidst recent announcement that the country had attracted over $8bn in investments for deepwater oil and gas projects within a year, marking a significant turnaround in the sector.
This was also attributed to reforms implemented under Tinubu’s administration.
The investments stemmed from Final Investment Decisions in deepwater and gas projects, such as the Bonga North (Shell), and Ubeta (Total Energies), among others.
The data, analysed by Sunday PUNCH, showed that credit to the sector surged in January 2024 to N12.31tn, from N8.36tn recorded the previous month. It further climbed to its peak in February, when outstanding loans hit N13.32tn.
A slight contraction followed in March, with credit dropping to N10.99tn, before picking up again in April at N11.83tn, and May, which saw credit levels rise to N12.42tn.
In June, bank loans to oil and gas firms dipped marginally to N11.97tn, but recovered in July to N12.81tn. The upward trend continued in August, when the figure rose to N12.85tn, and again in September, reaching N13tn.
The figures showed a marginal drop in October, with credit levels standing at N12.97tn, followed by another decline in November, at N12.74tn.
By December 2024, total loans to the sector had dropped further to N11.61tn, closing the year with a net increase of N3.25tn from the December 2023 baseline.
Further analysis showed that the Central Bank of Nigeria increased foreign exchange utilisation for the oil refining sector from $82m in 2023 to $189.93m in 2024, with $40m, $47.25m, $47.25m, and $55.43m disbursed in Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4, respectively. (Punch)
