Dangote refinery to import crude oil from the US as it gets set to start operations

NIGERIA'S Dangote Petroleum Refinery is set to import crude oil from the US over the coming months because they are available at low prices as part of its plans to start producing refined petroleum products.

Officially opened with a lot of fanfare last year, the Dangote refinery in Lekki, in Lagos State, is a $20bn facility, which is expected to meet all of Nigeria's domestic needs. This move to import crude from the US is a sign of just how competitive American barrels have become in the global market.

Dangote's multi-billion dollar refinery is also reportedly expecting 2m barrels of crude oil from the Trafigura Group in February. Africa's largest refinery, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Project, is a 650,000 barrels per day facility, located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State.

So far, the facility has, received 6m barrels of crude oil supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company and other international oil companies that operate in Nigeria. Trafigura has now sold 2m barrels of WTI Midland crude to the refinery for end of February delivery, which is the first time that it has purchased non-Nigerian crude.

Trafigura is a multinational commodity trading company headquartered in Singapore, with major hubs in various locations including Geneva, Houston, Montevideo and Mumbai.  It primarily trades in base metals and energy, including oil and also other commodities like minerals and metals.

Over the last decade,  the growth in US oil supply has reshaped the global market, extending its influence to regions like Asia. Nigeria, whose economy heavily relies on petroleum exports, is particularly impacted by these trans-Atlantic deliveries.