LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has announced its intention to mandate international oil companies (IOCs) to supply crude oil to the Dangote oil refinery.
Spokesperson for the NUPRC, Olaide Shonola revealed that the commission is intervening to ensure the local sale of crude to Dangote and other refineries within the country.
Shonola’s remarks came in response to a statement by the Chairman of the Dangote Group regarding the reluctance of international oil companies to supply crude to the refinery.
In an interview with The PUNCH, Shonola stated that the NUPRC would enforce a mandate for the IOCs to sell to the Dangote refinery, issuing clear directives to ensure compliance.
“We’ve been intervening and intervening. I am sure you’re aware of a recent meeting that was held with them on domestic crude oil supply. We will keep engaging them, NUPRC has been doing that.
“I can’t say we will force them, but as the regulator, we can mandate. And that’s what we are doing, giving clear directives that this must be done. We will just keep on engaging and you will agree with me that most of these things have to be planned. We will keep on engaging. We will do our regulatory function in that area,” she stated.
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Asked whether there would be sanctions, Shinola declined comments.
“We will mandate them, as in, give clear directives based on our regulatory functions,” she emphasised.
During an interview with CNN, Aliko Dangote highlighted the reluctance of international oil companies in Nigeria to supply crude oil to the 650,000-barrel capacity oil refinery.
Dangote noted that these companies were accustomed to exporting crude for foreign exchange and were unwilling to stop this practice.
Despite efforts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd to provide feedstock to the refinery, the IOCs preferred to sell outside the country.
“The NNPC is doing its best, but some of the IOCs, they are struggling to give us crude, everybody is used to exporting and nobody wants to stop exporting,” he stated.
The business mogul said Africa was not growing because it sells raw materials to the Western world and buys the same as finished goods.
“Africa is not going the way it should because we export raw materials and import finished goods. It doesn’t matter what it is, even if it is gold or whatever, raw material is always priced at a ridiculous amount compared to finished goods,” Dangote said.
Dangote expressed regret that certain individuals profiting from oil imports were not supportive of the refinery’s success.
He revealed that the refinery would require approximately 21 million barrels of crude oil from Nigeria every month, effectively eliminating the need for 21 ships to import or export oil to and from Africa.
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“Almost 21 ships will no longer leave the African continent, either from Nigeria or Angola, we will be able to take those crudes and be able to refine and distribute the product. I feel very proud as an African that we have been able to demonstrate that it can be done, and we’ve done it.
“If we take all the crudes from Nigeria, it means we will take 21 million barrels per month and that will also help in terms of reducing the C02 emissions. Rather than ships coming from Europe to bring in products, or the ships going out of Nigeria, 21 ships going out of Nigeria every month, and then you have the product coming into Nigeria. In totality, when you calculate, you are talking about 480 ships of 1 million barrels,” he noted.
In April, the NUPRC implemented a new regulation mandating oil producers to prioritize selling crude to domestic refineries over foreign demands. However, it seems that the IOCs are not adhering to this directive.