The Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Refinery, David Bird, has raised concerns that the facility is receiving significantly less crude oil than agreed under the Federal Government’s crude-for-naira arrangement.
Bird disclosed this during an interview on ARISE News on Wednesday. He said the refinery currently receives only about five cargoes of crude oil each month, far below the expected 13 to 15 cargoes outlined in the supply agreement.
According to him, the shortfall is affecting the refinery’s ability to fully maximise local crude supply, despite the existing contract.
Bird explained that the refinery was supposed to receive enough crude shipments monthly to meet Nigeria’s domestic fuel demand.
“What we see under that agreement, we should be getting about 13 to 15 cargoes a month. And that’s what we could process to meet the domestic fuel requirements of Nigeria. Currently, we’re only getting five. So, that’s an underperformance against that pre-agreed volume contract,” he said.
The CEO noted that the supply gap has forced the refinery to purchase preferred Nigerian crude grades from international markets at higher costs.
He warned that this situation leads to financial losses for the country.
“And that value between the purchase price and the premium that we’re now seeing is money that Nigeria is leaking to the international trading community,” Bird added.
Bird also clarified that the crude-for-naira policy was not created to give financial advantages to the refinery. Instead, he said the policy aims to strengthen Nigeria’s foreign exchange stability.
“Just to start on the crude for Naira, crude for Naira is not there to benefit Dangote Refinery. That is a fundamental misunderstanding. The crude for Naira programme is to provide resilience to foreign exchange,” he explained.
He added that processing domestic crude in the local currency ultimately benefits the Nigerian economy, even though the refinery still purchases crude at international benchmark prices.
Despite the supply challenges, Bird said the refinery continues to operate at its full installed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, supplying petroleum products to both domestic and regional markets.
However, he noted that global oil market disruptions, particularly tensions in the Middle East, have increased operational costs across the refinery’s supply chain. These costs include freight, insurance, and logistics.
Bird also stressed that fuel pricing remains tied to international market forces, adding that the refinery operates without subsidies or discounted crude inputs.
He called for improved crude allocation policies and long-term strategic planning in Nigeria’s oil sector. According to him, building national reserves and strengthening supply chain resilience will help stabilise the country’s energy market.
