Business
‘Dangote Refinery Needs N1.7trn Worth Crude Monthly’
Sequel to the directive of President Bola Tinubu mandating the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to sell crude to the plant and other domestic refineries in naira, report has indicated that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is going to need about N1.7trillion worth of crude oil monthly.
President Tinubu had on Monday, directed NNPC to sell crude to the Dangote Refinery and other upcoming refineries in naira.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, made this known in a post via his official X handle.
Onanuga said the Federal Executive Council adopted the move on Monday to ensure the stability of the pump price of refined fuel and the dollar-naira exchange rate.
An analysis of figures from various industry reports showed that the $20bn Dangote refinery located in Lekki, Lagos, would gulp about N1.7trillion of crude oil monthly should NNPC meet the mandate of the President.
The average cost of crude in 2024 is about $83/barrel, based on data from Statistica, a global statistical firm.
The President, Dangote Industries, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, recently stated that his refinery would hit 500,000 barrels per day capacity in August, and 550,000bpd in December 2024.
This means that between August and November this year, the refinery targets to refine 500,000bpd of crude oil, before proceeding to hit the 550,000bpd mark in December.
Going by 500,000bpd refining capacity and the $83/barrel average price of Brent, the global benchmark for crude, it implies that the plant would require about $41.5million worth of crude oil daily, which represents N56.55billion, using the average exchange rate of N1,362.6/$ in 2024.
This, therefore, implies that the refinery would gulp about N1.7trillion worth of crude oil monthly based on the recent directive of the President mandating NNPC to supply crude to Dangote and other domestic refineries in naira.
The National Public Relations Officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, said though Nigeria has been battling to ramp up crude oil production, NNPC should endeavour to meet the President’s order.
“It is an order by the President that crude be sold to domestic refineries in naira, and that includes the Dangote refinery. We know that the refinery is massive and requires over 500,000 barrels of crude oil daily, so NNPC and its partners should work harder to meet this demand.
“We just have to try. The government has been talking about ramping up crude oil production. This is the time to deliver on that. The President has given an order and it is up to NNPC and the ministry to meet that order”, he stated.