Dangote refinery plans to buy 24 million barrels of crude from the United States over the next year as it increases processing rates.
According to a report on
Thursday by Bloomberg, the plant issued a “term tender” for the purchase
of two million barrels of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland crude a month.
The delivery, according to a document the report cited, is
for 12 months (24 million barrels), commencing in July.
The tender, the document revealed, would close on May 21.
According to the report, the call for US oil shows how influential the plant will be in global crude and fuel trading.
“It also reflects Nigeria’s struggle to lift its own crude
production, which remains well below theoretical capacity, as well as Dangote’s
willingness to tap cheaper supplies than it can find at home,” the publication
said.
Nigeria has been unable to meet its Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota.
In April, the country pumped about 1.45 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and
condensates — below its estimated production
capacity of 2.6 million barrels a day.
Crude theft, ageing oil pipelines, low investment, and
divestments from oil majors operating in the nation are contributory factors to
declining production, according to the report.
The publication said the plant is “currently running at
about half capacity” and “is taking advantage of cheaper US oil imports for as
much as a third of its feedstock”.
“Since the start of this year, it has received at least one
supertanker carrying about 2 million barrels of WTI Midland each month,”
Bloomberg said.
The report said an official at Dangote declined to comment.
On April 15, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory
Commission (NUPRC) released new
draft rules requiring oil producers to sell crude to domestic refineries before
meeting foreign demands.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com