The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has supplied 48.6 million barrels of crude oil to Dangote Petroleum Refinery over the past ten months, according to official data. This allocation is part of efforts to ensure the refinery has enough resources to support its operations, which is designed to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The delivery details indicate that NNPCL provided varying quantities of crude oil to the refinery each month. In December 2023, 3.4 million barrels were supplied, followed by 3.5 million barrels in February 2024. Monthly supplies from March to September 2024 ranged between 3.0 and 5.6 million barrels, with the highest delivery of 5.6 million barrels recorded in September. By October 2024, a total of 11.7 million barrels had already been delivered.
Despite these figures, sources close to Dangote Refinery have noted that the volume of crude supplied remains below what is required to fully utilize the plant’s refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. The NNPCL has yet to release the exact crude oil needs of Nigeria’s refineries, including Dangote’s, for the final quarter of 2024.
In the second quarter of 2024 (Q2’24), government reports estimated that Nigeria’s refineries, including Dangote, needed 597,700 barrels of crude per day, up from 483,000 barrels per day in the first half of the year. This estimate suggests that the crude oil allocated to Dangote Refinery may still be less than 50% of its full capacity.
In a related development, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported a decline in petrol imports. In 2023, petrol imports fell by 12.6%, down to 20.29 billion litres from 23.24 billion litres in 2022. The bureau also noted a significant drop in the number of trucks used for petrol distribution, which decreased by 16.9% year-on-year to 20.22 billion litres in 2023.
However, the data showed an increase in the importation of Automotive Gas Oil (diesel). In 2023, diesel imports rose to 4.94 billion litres from 3.99 billion litres in 2022. Local production of diesel also increased slightly, reaching 109.39 million litres, a 6.76% rise from 102.47 million litres in 2022.
Similarly, the production of Household Kerosene (HHK) saw a substantial increase, growing by 56% to 69.7 million litres in 2023 compared to 44.68 million litres in the previous year. However, local production of petrol has remained inactive since 2018, when 128.08 million litres were produced.
The NBS confirmed these figures, stating, “In 2023, PMS truck out stood at 20.22 billion litres, indicating a 16.96% decrease relative to 24.35 billion litres recorded in 2022.”
