By George OPARA
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has imported its first crude cargoes from the United Arab Emirates, turning to Middle Eastern suppliers as domestic production struggles to feed Africa’s largest refining complex.
The 700,000-barrel-per-day Lagos-based facility purchased two UAE cargoes, marking a strategic shift from its traditional reliance on Nigerian, other African, and US grades.
The move aims to give the refinery greater feedstock flexibility amid persistent supply disruptions at home, according to a report by S&P Global Commodity Insights.
The purchases followed the resumption of Middle East oil exports after an interim US-Iran peace agreement restored confidence in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
While designed to process Nigeria’s light sweet crude, the refinery has progressively expanded its feedstock slate as production ramps up. An existing agreement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company guarantees 13 to 15 cargoes of Nigerian crude monthly, settled in naira to reduce foreign exchange exposure.
However, inadequate domestic availability and operational challenges at export terminals have repeatedly disrupted these supplies, forcing the refinery to seek alternatives, Chief Executive Officer David Bird has said.
Bird disclosed in April that the refinery plans to increase its proportion of heavier crude grades. “We definitely want to heavy up the barrel,” he said, adding that each processing train could eventually run on as much as 30 percent Middle Eastern crude, with blending playing a key role.
The refinery’s appetite for crude is set to grow. Dangote aims to double processing capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2028—enough to handle roughly 80 percent of Nigeria’s current daily output.
S&P Global data shows that about 70 percent of the refinery’s crude imports in 2025 came from Nigeria, while the United States supplied 24 percent.
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