The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has supplied a total of 48.6 million barrels of crude oil to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery over the past ten months.
According to official data reviewed by Vanguard, the monthly breakdown of these deliveries began with 3.4 million barrels in December 2023, and 11.7 million barrels have already been recorded for October 2024.
However, sources close to the Dangote Refinery have raised concerns that the allocated volume is still insufficient for the refinery’s full operational capacity.
The refinery, which has an installed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is reportedly receiving less than the required volume to operate at its maximum potential.
NNPCL has not yet released specific details on the crude oil allocation for Nigeria’s refineries in the last quarter of 2024. Nonetheless, during the second quarter of 2024, the government estimated the total daily crude oil requirement for all Nigerian refineries, including Dangote Refinery, to be 597,700 barrels.
This figure reflects an increase of 114,700 barrels per day compared to the first half of the year’s daily requirement, which stood at 483,000 barrels.
Despite the crude oil deliveries, further analysis suggests that the amount allocated to Dangote Refinery may be less than 50% of its production capacity.
This raises questions about the optimization of Nigeria’s refining potential and the overall management of the country’s crude oil resources.