Dangote Refinery Broadens Feedstock Base With UAE Crude Purchase

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has purchased two cargoes of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking its first-ever procurement of Middle Eastern crude as it diversifies its feedstock sources ahead of continuous expansion.

According to a report by S&P Global Commodity Insights, the two cargoes will be the first sourced by the 700,000-barrels-per-day refinery from any Middle Eastern supplier, signalling a shift from its traditional reliance on Nigerian, African, and United States crude grades.

The report said the purchases followed the resumption of oil exports from the Middle East after the United States and Iran reached an interim peace agreement that restored confidence in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The refinery, designed primarily to process Nigeria’s light sweet crude, has increasingly diversified its crude slate as operations ramp up. The company sources crude from Brazil, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Algeria, and the US, among others.

The refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Plc had agreed on the supply of between 13 and 15 cargoes of Nigerian crude monthly in Naira, but the volumes often fluctuate. In May, the state oil company allocated seven cargoes to the plant, up from five in previous months.

The chief executive of the Dangote Refinery, Mr David Bird, had previously disclosed that these constraints had compelled the company to seek additional crude sources outside Nigeria.

According to S&P Global, the refinery has been broadening the range of crude grades it processes as part of its ambition to operate as a fully merchant refinery. The report noted that in 2025, about 70 per cent of the refinery’s crude imports came from Nigeria, while 24 per cent originated from the United States.

The report added that the refinery’s expansion plans would further increase its crude requirements. Dangote plans to double the refinery’s processing capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day by the end of 2028, a level that would enable it to process about 80 per cent of Nigeria’s recent crude oil production in a single day.

Business Post understands that since NNPC cargoes are cheaper for the ​refinery because of lower ​shipping costs, importation of crude could translate to higher fuel prices, with Nigerians possibly buying as high as N1,300 – N1,400 at the pump.