… NNPC Gives Reason
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has given details of investment standing of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited in Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, disclosing that it has reduced to 7.2% from 20% stake initially announced before the inauguration.
Dangote further explained that NNPC’s stake dropped to 7.2% over the company’s failure to pay the balance of their share, which was due in June, 2024.The NNPC had acquired a 20 per cent interest in the $20bn Dangote refinery for $2.76 billion.
Dangote made these disclosures on Sunday at a press briefing held in Lagos, adding that refining of PMS would begin in August.
Dangote said: “NNPC no longer owns a 20 per cent stake in the Dangote refinery. They were met to pay their balance in June, but have yet to fulfil the obligations. Now, they only own a 7.2% stake in the refinery,” according to reports by Channels Television.
However, in a swift reaction to Dangote’s, claim, NNPC Ltd said: “NNPC Limited periodically assesses its investment portfolio to ensure alignment with the company’s strategic goals.
“The decision to cap its equity participation at the paid-up sum was made and communicated to Dangote Refinery several months ago,” according to a statement by the NNPC Ltd Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye.
This confirms Dangote’s claim over the current reduction of NNPC’s stake in Dangote refinery.
OPTIMUM TIMES that Dangote had sourced larger quantity of its crude oil from outside the country which it attributed to inability of crude oil drillers in Nigeria to meet Dangote’s required daily needs.
Only few days ago, Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals disclosed that it has issued a tender for an additional 11 million barrels of US crude oil over the next six months due to Nigerian crude oil producers’ inability to meet its feedstock requirements.
It said that the 650,000 barrels per day refinery has already received 9 million barrels of West Texas Intermediate crude from the US since the beginning of 2024 to offset unreliable domestic supplies.
Also, it explained that the new tender, closing on July 21, aims to procure two million barrels per month of WTI Midland crude for the world’s largest single-train facility located in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos, for the next six months starting in August.
In a tender reported by Bloomberg, Dangote Refinery purchased five million barrels of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland crude for delivery in the upcoming months of August and September. Additionally, the company initiated a tender process to acquire an additional six million barrels of American crude for September.
This reliance on US crude highlights Nigeria’s challenges in meeting its own refining needs, attributed to issues such as crude theft, aging infrastructure, and underinvestment, which have led to a decline in production.
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