Nigeria’s state-owned oil giant, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has reaffirmed its commitment to supplying crude oil to the Dangote Refinery based strictly on commercial and market-driven terms.
- NNPCL stated a commitment to reducing governmental dominance in the private oil sector to encourage liberalization.
- Dangote Refinery, Africa’s largest single-train refinery, aims for 100% domestic crude supply by December 2025.
- The collaboration between NNPCL and Dangote represents Nigeria’s step towards energy independence and industrial growth.
This comes amid ongoing efforts by the Nigerian government to reduce its dominance in the private oil and gas sector and foster a more liberalised market structure.
Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, disclosed this in a recent interview with Bloomberg, where he addressed the ongoing conversation around domestic crude supply to Africa’s largest refinery.
“First of all, Dangote Refinery is a commercial investment, so the refinery has the flexibility to import crude for its survival,” Ojulari said.
He explained that while the government is committed to improving local crude supply to the refinery, the process must remain market-driven. “If you look at it commercially, we have to do more to ensure that there is a balance in terms of the crude coming from domestic; we are working on that, and we think that will improve,” he said.
“But what we want to do is move away from government domination in private sector businesses. We want the private to have freedom. If Nigeria is to provide crude oil supply to Dangote Refinery, it will be on a commercially willing buyer and willing seller basis,” Ojulari added.
His comments come amid renewed efforts by the Nigerian government to foster a more liberalised oil and gas industry and reduce direct state control in private sector operations.
Dangote refinery targets full local crude supply by 2025
Dangote Refinery, with a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is the largest single-train refinery in Africa and among the largest globally. The Lagos-based facility is expected to meet Nigeria’s domestic fuel needs and significantly reduce reliance on petroleum imports.
In a separate interview with Bloomberg, Devakumar Edwin, President of Dangote Industries, said the refinery aims to achieve 100 percent domestic crude supply by December 2025.
The push for local supply aligns with a directive issued by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in July 2024 for crude oil sales to the refinery to be transacted in local currency (naira), a move implemented in October 2024.
In Q1 2025, the country’s Technical Sub-Committee on Crude and Refined Product Sales in Naira confirmed that the policy would continue indefinitely.
As Nigeria repositions itself in the global oil market, the evolving partnership between NNPCL and Dangote Refinery is seen as central to Africa’s push for energy independence, industrialisation, and intra and inter-continental trade.
Olamilekan Okebiorun
