The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has allocated 48.6 million barrels of crude oil to Dangote Petroleum Refinery over the past ten months, according to recent investigations by Vanguard. This significant allocation includes 3.4 million barrels supplied in December 2023 and 3.5 million barrels delivered in February 2024.

Official data revealed the monthly allocations for the refinery: 3.3 million barrels each in March and April, 3.0 million in May, 5.1 million in both June and July, 4.8 million in August, and 5.6 million in September 2024. Additionally, October deliveries have already reached 11.7 million barrels. Despite these deliveries, sources familiar with operations at the Dangote Refinery indicated that the total volume remains low compared to the plant’s capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.

NNPCL has not yet announced the crude oil requirements for Nigeria’s refineries, including Dangote, for the last quarter of 2024. However, in the second quarter of 2024, the government estimated the crude needs of all refineries at 597,700 barrels per day, reflecting an increase of 114,700 barrels from 483,000 barrels per day in the first half of the year. The estimates suggest that the crude oil allocated to Dangote Refinery is less than 50% of its production capacity.

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In another development, the volume of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, decreased by 12.6% year-on-year to 20.29 billion litres in 2023, down from 23.24 billion litres in 2022. This statistic was released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Petroleum Products Distribution Statistics for 2023, which also noted a 16.9% drop in petrol trucks, falling to 20.22 billion litres from 24.35 billion litres in the previous year.

Additionally, the importation of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), or diesel, rose to 4.94 billion litres in 2023, an increase from 3.99 billion litres in 2022. Locally, the production of AGO also saw growth, with 109.39 million litres produced in 2023, marking a 6.76% increase from 102.47 million litres the previous year. Likewise, local production of Household Kerosene (HHK) surged by 56% year-on-year to 69.7 million litres in 2023, compared to 44.68 million litres in 2022. However, local petrol production ceased in 2018 when it peaked at 128.08 million litres.

The NBS highlighted that in 2023, 20.30 billion litres of PMS were imported, representing a 13.77% decrease from 23.54 billion litres in 2022. The increase in imported AGO reflects a growing demand, as 4.94 billion litres were imported this year, a 23.66% rise from the previous year’s 4.00 billion litres.