By Kolawole Ojebisi
Despite its status as Africa’s leading producer of crude oil, Nigeria is apparently struggling to meet Dangote refinery’s demand for hydrocarbon.
This is revealed in a report by Bloomberg over the weekend, stating that Nigeria has increased its imports of U.S.West Texas Intermediate (WTI).
The report attributed the development to the recent operations of the Dangote refinery and the facility’s growing appetite for the essential hydrocarbon.
The refinery, which is Africa’s largest and one of the world’s most significant crude processing facilities, has an installed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
The refinery is owned by Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, with an estimated net worth of about $28 billion.
According to Bloomberg’s ship-tracking data, the Dangote Refinery, has purchased about a third of its crude from the United States, primarily the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland grade.
This proportion has nearly doubled since 2024, the year the refinery began ramping up operations.
According to Bloomberg, the increased procurement of American crude is due to a combination of strategic and operational factors initiated by the Nigerian indigenous refinery.
The report indicated that “OPEC member nations have found it difficult to economically scale up crude supply amid global competition.”
However, this dynamic has allowed the 650,000-bpd refinery to acquire more stored U.S. crude, particularly WTI, as it moves closer to full operational capacity.
“Another reason for Dangote’s preference is WTI’s higher yield of gasoline and refined products”, the report added.
Another reason cited for the Dangote Refinery’s strategic move is the contraction of parts of the Asian market for WTI crude amid the ongoing US-China trade tensions.
Though the trade war between the two global economic giants comes with its attendant unpleasant consequences for world economy, it’s a blessing in disguise for the Dangote refinery which has kept exploiting the availability of American crude for other regions, including West Africa.
The increased intake of U.S. crude also comes amid a decline in the availability of Nigerian crude.
Bloomberg research shows that “U.S. crude is expected to make up a larger portion of Dangote’s imports in June compared to the domestic supply”.
The Dangote refinery began producing fuel in 2024. Diesel and naphtha production commenced in January, followed by gasoline in September.
The use of U.S. oil aligns with the refinery’s increasing processing levels and the drop in available Nigerian crude for purchase.
While the indigenous refinery has the ambitious plan of reaching its 650,000 barrels per day capacity in June this year, low local crude supply stands in its way to realise the dream.
Nigeria’s crude supply has been limiting the refinery’s capacity to meet its production target amidst plans to ramp up daily production.
“Already, the refinery has lined up imports of at least five million barrels of U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil for delivery in July, building on what may become a record month of WTI intake in June” the report stated.
Buttressing this claim a recent Reuters report further indicated that the refinery awarded tenders for the purchase of around “161,000 barrels per day (bpd) of U.S. crude to be delivered in July”.
It added that this follows earlier deals for June cargoes amounting to roughly 300,000 bpd — the largest volume of WTI ever booked by the refinery in a single month.
