The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has received four cargoes of crude oil from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited under the naira-for-crude sale agreement, officials of the refinery and the Federal Government confirmed on Tuesday.
It was gathered that the four cargoes of crude were delivered to the refinery within the past three weeks when the government kick-started the sale of crude to local refineries in the local currency.
Informed sources about the local crude sale deal told our correspondent that the refinery was still waiting to receive more crude oil cargoes from NNPCL, the organisation managing the country’s hydrocarbon resources.
They also confirmed that the $20bn Lekki-based plant was now set to begin the direct sale of refined Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, to domestic dealers.
A source close to the Technical Subcommittee on Domestic Sale of Crude Oil in Local Currency, who did not want to be mentioned because he was not permitted to speak with the press, confirmed to The PUNCH that “more cargoes (of crude) would be delivered to the Dangote refinery in the coming weeks.”
The official disclosed that the programme started with the Dangote refinery as the only petrol-producing facility in Nigeria at the moment.
Speaking with our correspondent, a senior official of the refinery confirmed the development, saying the first phase of the naira-crude sale agreement would last for six months unless it is renewed by the Federal Government.
The official said she could not tell the cost of the crude oil per barrel.
“The naira-for-crude deal has started. The Dangote refinery has received four cargoes so far and we are still expecting more. The four cargoes have been delivered to the refinery within the past three weeks. We are still expecting more cargo in the coming week.
“Don’t forget that this first phase of the naira-crude sale is just for six months. The government may decide to renew it at the end of the first six months and they may decide not to. So, we don’t know what will happen yet after the first six months.”
Recall that the 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery was greeted by crude challenges when it began operations some months ago.
The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had cried out, saying some international oil companies were planning to sabotage the investment by refusing to supply crude.
The Dangote Group had alleged that the IOCs insisted on selling crude oil to its refinery through their foreign agents.
It said the local price of crude would continue to increase because the trading arms offered cargoes at $2 to $4 per barrel, above the official price.
The group also alleged that the foreign oil producers seem to be prioritising Asian countries in selling the crude they produce in Nigeria.
Despite the intervention of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in July, the group insisted that the IOCs were still frustrating the refinery.
The Vice President, Oil & Gas, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Devakumar Edwin, said, “If the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation guidelines are diligently implemented, this will ensure that we deal directly with the companies producing the crude oil in Nigeria as stipulated by the Petroleum Industry Act.”
Edwin insisted that IOCs operating in Nigeria had consistently frustrated the company’s requests for locally-produced crude as feedstock for its refining process.
He highlighted that when cargoes were offered to the oil company by the trading arms, it was sometimes at a $2 to $4 (per barrel) premium above the official price set by the NUPRC.
“As an example, we paid $96.23 per barrel for a cargo of Bonga crude grade in April (excluding transport). The price consisted of a $90.15 dated Brent price plus $5.08 NNPC premium plus a $1 trader premium. In the same month, we were able to buy WTI at a dated Brent price of $90.15 + $0.93 trader premium including transport. When the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited subsequently lowered its premium based on market feedback that it was too high, some traders then started asking us for a premium of up to $4m over and above the NSP for a cargo of Bonny Light.
“Data on platforms like Platts and Argus shows that the price offered to us is way higher than the market prices tracked by these platforms. We recently had to escalate this to NUPRC,” Edwin said in July, urging the commission to take a second look at the issue of pricing.