The Dangote Oil Refinery has refuted a claim that it was reselling purchased cargoes of crude oil from the United States and Nigeria to other traders. Tony Chiejina, the spokesperson for the Dangote Group, dismissed the report as untrue in an interview with The PUNCH. Reuters had reported that technical issues at the refinery were linked to the reoffer of the crude, but Chiejina stated that the refinery is still acquiring crude from Angola and Libya and that the crude distillation unit is in good working condition.
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Chiejina emphasized, “We are sourcing more crude from Angola and Libya. Also, our crude distillation unit is functioning perfectly well. You may wish to visit the refinery even today or tomorrow.” In a subsequent statement, he urged the public to ignore the misleading report, stating that the refinery is not authorized to sell crude oil purchased from Nigeria and that the CDU is fully operational.
“We categorically deny these claims. The Dangote refinery is not authorized to sell crude oil purchased from Nigeria, and our CDU is fully operational and functioning optimally. We advise the public to disregard these false narratives, which are likely driven by interests opposed to the local refining of fuels,” he said. The 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery started operations earlier this year, with complaints about crude shortage. Sources had said cargoes of Nigerian Escravos and Forcados were among the crude grades offered as well as US WTI Midland.
