Nigerian Govt snubs Dangote Refinery, prioritizes Indonesia for crude oil exports

Rabiu Umar, the Group Chief Commercial Officer at Dangote Industries Limited, revealed in an interview with Channels Television on Monday, as monitored by News360 Nigeria, that the Nigerian government has snubbed the Dangote Refinery project.

He noted that instead of refining crude oil domestically, Nigeria has opted to export crude to Indonesia and import refined products from the same country.

He stated this is coming despite the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote refinery’s inability to get adequate crude oil supply in Nigeria.

“Whilst we are going to import cargoes abroad. Most of the cargo from Nigeria is sold to Indonesia. So the question is, does it make sense to take cargo from Nigeria to sell to Indonesia and then you are also importing the same finished product to Nigeria? It does not make sense to me”, he said.

He added, “We expect to see an improved supply of crude oil to domestic refineries”.

He, however, reiterated that Dangote Refinery will commence the domestic supply of fuel in August 2024.

The development comes amid the recent impasse between the Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority over substandard products.

Recall that last week, Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA stated that Dangote products were inferior.

Meanwhile, Rabiu clarified that Dangote Refinery products are not substandard but rather among the best in the World.

Earlier, Aliko Dangote, the owner of Dangote Refinery had also dismissed Ahmed’s statement that its products were inferior.