Atiku Cautions against Alleged Plots to Frustrate Dangote Refinery

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, has warned against any deliberate attempts to delay the progress of the Dangote Refinery.

The former vice president stated that the refinery is a significant private sector project positioned to meet the country’s energy and foreign exchange needs.

Atiku said this on Saturday in a post via his official X handle while reacting to the war of words between the management of the refinery and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) over crude oil allocation.

Atiku wrote: “Each parent eagerly awaiting the arrival of a child will dutifully undertake the necessary measures to ensure that the nurturing and development of this precious blessing remain a primary focus. This fundamental principle applies equally to investments, whether they be local or international.

“With this understanding, I am cautious in considering any deliberate attempts to impede the progress of the Dangote Refinery, a significant private sector project positioned to meet our energy and forex needs.

“Alongside numerous fellow citizens of goodwill, I call upon all Nigerians to take resolute actions to provide reassurance that both internal and external forces are not collaborating to prevent us from reaping the benefits promised by this eagerly anticipated transformative endeavour,” he added.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Dangote Refinery accused the NUPRC of failing to enforce the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation (DCSO), a provision that requires crude oil producers to supply domestic refiners with a portion of their production.

“Our concern has always been that the NUPRC is pushing, but the international oil companies are not following the instructions,” said a Dangote Refinery spokesperson, Anthony Chiejina, in the statement.

“Consequently, we often purchase the same Nigerian crude from international traders at an additional $3-$4 premium per barrel which translates to $3-$4 million per cargo,” he added.

Chiejina said the refinery was expecting to receive 15 cargoes for September out of which NNPC had allocated six.

But in a swift response, the NUPRIC debunked the allegation that it was failing in its duty as the upstream regulator to effectively enforce the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation (DCSO).

In a statement in Abuja, the NUPRC disclosed that in the first six months of 2024, it facilitated the supply of 29 million barrels of crude oil to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals despite claims by the Dangote’s team that the regulator was complacent in enforcing crude supply to the firm.

“Consequently, the commission rejects insinuations that it has poorly enforced the domestic crude supply obligation,” NUPRC said.

The commission added that as part of its commitment to ensure the enforcement of section 109 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 which provides among others, the domestic supply of crude to local refineries on a ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ basis, it ensured that nine refineries were supplied crude despite low oil production.

In a response to NUPRC’s clarifications, the refinery on Friday, urged the commission to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as specified in the PIA, insisting that refineries in Nigeria should be allowed to buy crude oil directly from companies that produce it in the country, rather than from international middlemen, as enshrined in the legislation.

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