Officials at the Dangote refinery recently disclosed that the refining capacity of the facility is currently at 500,000 barrels per day, as they project hitting the 650,000bpd mark by June of this year.
What has been a major barrier between the refinery and its originally intended 650,000bpd capacity is set to be resolved.
The refinery announced that it has plans to import crude from outside the Nigerian oil market, as the supply it currently gets from the country is insufficient.
Should the refinery plug its local crude deficit with imported crude, it is likely to ramp up production to 650,000bpd.
The sources, who spoke in confidentially, as reported by the Punch relayed that the refinery will need to buy additional oil to reach its goal, even if they confirmed that the naira-for-crude contract is still in place as instructed by President Bola Tinubu last year.
Currently, the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC) distributes between 350,000bpd to 450,000bpd of crude to the Dangote refinery.
“It is not that anybody is saying NNPC cannot do it. No! But you look at what we have. We are not a 200,000bpd refinery. We are talking about 650,000 barrels,” one of the anonymous sources who spoke to the Punch said.
“Currently, we are at 500,000bpd; we will ramp to 650,000 by midyear. You know what it means? So, it is a normal process to source crude oil anywhere it is available.”
