The Dangote Oil Refinery plans to end crude oil imports and rely entirely on Nigerian crude by December 2025, replacing hundreds of thousands of barrels per day of imported oil with local supply, Bloomberg has reported.
Vice President at Dangote Industries overseeing the 650,000 barrels-per-day Lagos facility, Devakumar Edwin, said contracts with foreign suppliers would expire by year-end, allowing the refinery to transition fully to domestic crude sourcing.
“We expect some of the long-term contracts will expire. Personally, and as a company, we expect that before the end of the year, we can transition 100 per cent to local crude,” Edwin said.
The refinery, which began operations using significant imports from the United States, has gradually increased its intake of Nigerian crude. Data compiled by Bloomberg showed that in June, 53 per cent of its crude came from local producers, while 47 per cent was sourced from the U.S.
The facility is currently processing 550,000 barrels per day and expects local supply to increase in the coming months. It is scheduled to receive five crude cargoes from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in both July and August, with each shipment carrying nearly one million barrels.
Despite a domestic supply policy under the Domestic Crude Supply Obligations, Nigerian oil producers have previously protested mandatory supply directives, while issues like crude theft and pipeline attacks in the Niger Delta have affected local availability.
Edwin noted that improved relations between the refinery, local oil traders, and the government are expected to secure a steady supply of Nigerian crude going forward.
Aliko Dangote built the $20bn refinery to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products by refining its crude locally, aiming to reverse the trend of exporting crude for processing abroad and reimporting refined products at high costs.
The gradual ramp-up of operations is already positioning Nigeria as a net exporter of petroleum products, despite earlier challenges in securing enough domestic crude to reach the plant’s full 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity.
