Dangote Refinery expands crude oil sources, imports Brazilian cargo

Dangote refinery, owned by billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote, is diversifying its crude oil supply by adding Brazilian crude to its feedstock, BusinessDay’s findings have revealed.

Traders with knowledge of the matter said the refinery, which is still ramping up to full capacity, will receive a one-million-barrel cargo of Brazil’s Tupi crude for delivery in the second half of next month.

The cargo was sold by Petrobras, the traders told Bloomberg. Officials at the company, and one at Dangote, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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It’s the first time that Brazil has exported oil to Nigeria, according to data from the Latin American country’s commerce ministry.

Aliko Dangote, the chairman of Dangote Group said the refinery will continue to import crude oil as his refinery scales up production and seeks alternative supply contracts.

“It also makes economic sense for us to tender for crude. If we could source 100 percent Nigerian crude, then fine, but we can’t wait,” Dangote said at the Africa CEO Forum 2024.

“There is a bit of a problem for us to source the entire volume of crude that we’re looking for domestically because we need different types and mixes. Unless crude production improves – which we pray and hope for – we need to go elsewhere,” Dangote added.

According to CAS, the refinery took delivery of 11 WTI cargoes, or 9 million barrels, between February and May, contrasting with around 18 million barrels of Nigerian crude deliveries.

Now, the move to secure a longer-term offtake agreement signals a commitment by the refinery to more permanently diversify its crude sources, coinciding with a period of extreme demand weakness for Nigerian supply.

“It’s a little surprising that they are seeking term WTI at this stage,” said one West African crude trader, noting demand weakness that pushed Nigeria’s flagship Bonny Light crude to a discount to Dated Brent for the first time since November on May. 17.

Nigeria’s state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), also 20 percent equity holder in the project, has been widely expected to supply the bulk of Dangote’s crude demands, selling to the refinery in USD due to its location in the Lekki free zone.

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But findings showed NNPC has struggled to meet its 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil obligation to acquire a 20 percent stake in the Dangote Refinery.

The nation pumped about 1.28million barrels a day of crude and liquids in June, still far below its estimated production capacity of 2.6 million barrels a day. Crude theft, aging oil pipelines, low investment, and divestments from oil majors operating in the West African nation have all contributed to declining production.

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