Again, Dangote refinery tackles NUPRC, denies receiving 29m barrels allocation

The operators of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Plant have rejected a claim by one of the regulatory agencies in the Nigerian oil and gas ecosystem, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), on crude oil supply.

NUPRC had in a recent statement claimed that nine refineries have benefitted from its supply of 32 million barrels of crude — with Dangote alone getting 29 million barrels out of the total supply between January and June this year.

But in a statement issued on Friday by its Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, Dangote refinery said it has not received the crude supply.

Operators of the Dangote refinery have been having a running battle with authorities in Nigeria’s oil sector over the supply of crude oil to the refinery.

Chiejina said: “We are in receipt of NUPRC’s statement that they have facilitated the allocation of 29 million barrels of crude oil to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals.

READ ALSO: Why oil cabals are frustrating Dangote Refinery —Obasanjo

“We would like to thank them for this allocation but at the same time let them know that we are yet to receive these cargoes.

“Aside from the term supply we bilaterally negotiated with NNPC, so far NUPRC has only facilitated the purchase of one crude cargo from a domestic producer.

“The rest of the cargoes we have processed were purchased from international traders.”

He said refineries in Nigeria should buy crude directly from the companies that produce it in Nigeria instead of international middlemen as specified in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

The spokesman pointed out that NUPRC has admitted in their statement that they would be unable to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as specified in the PIA, citing the sanctity of contracts as an excuse.

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