Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, stated that the Dangote Refinery could continue operations without local patronage and might shift to exporting most of its products if the current boycott by local oil traders persists.
Speaking during a Brekete Family live show, Edwin noted that the refinery is already exporting diesel and aviation fuel and would extend this to Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) if local traders, including NNPC Limited, maintain their boycott.
Edwin confirmed that the refinery has recently begun producing petrol and will export it if there is insufficient local market demand.
He highlighted the ongoing petrol shortage in Nigeria, exacerbated by NNPC’s admission of over $6 billion in supplier debts.
He elaborated on the refinery’s current challenges, stating, “We have been exporting aviation fuel, producing kerosene and diesel, and just started producing PMS.
The only product left to produce is petrochemicals.” Edwin added that the refinery is grappling with domestic crude oil supply issues, relying increasingly on imported crude due to inadequate local supply.
“To address this, we are constructing four new crude oil tanks, each with a 120 million-litre capacity, to store imported crude.
This is necessary because of the insufficient local crude supply,” Edwin explained. He criticized the situation, noting that despite the refinery’s capability to load 2,900 tankers daily, less than five percent of this capacity is utilized due to low local demand.
Edwin expressed frustration that local traders are not purchasing the refinery’s products, leading to increased exports.
He concluded, “We are now importing crude from the US, Brazil, and other regions, reversing our original plan to refine local crude and export finished products.”
