Nigeria's Dangote refinery is in discussions with Libya and plans to engage Angola to secure crude oil for its 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) plant, a senior executive announced. The $20 billion refinery, built by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, is the continent's largest and aims to end Nigeria's reliance on imported fuels due to insufficient domestic refining capacity.
Since commencing operations in January, Dangote has faced challenges in obtaining adequate crude supplies domestically. Despite being Africa's largest oil producer, Nigeria struggles with oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and low investment. Consequently, the refinery has imported crude from countries as distant as Brazil and the United States.
"We are talking to Libya about importing crude," Dangote refinery senior executive Devakumar Edwin told Reuters. "We will talk to Angola as well and some other countries in Africa."
While Edwin did not provide details on the negotiations, he mentioned that international traders and oil companies are significant buyers of Dangote's gasoil, much of which is exported. "The biggest offtakers are the two big traders Trafigura and Vitol and BP and, to some extent, even TotalEnergies. But all of them are saying they are taking it to offshore," he said.
Traders and shipping data indicate that Dangote is ramping up gasoil exports to West Africa, capturing market share from European refiners.
Dangote's oil trading arm is operational, with staff in London and Lagos, to manage supplies and sales. Nigeria's upstream regulator has clashed with Dangote over the sulphur content in its gasoil, initially above the required 200 parts per million (ppm). Aliko Dangote has denied the high levels, stating that the sulphur content has decreased to 88 ppm and will drop to 10 ppm by early August as production increases.
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