Nigeria's Dangote oil refinery could significantly improve its operational efficiency by using local crude supplies instead of the imported US crude oil, Devakumar Edwin, the vice president for oil and gas at Dangote Industries Limited, said on Sunday.
Devakumar Edwin accused international oil companies active in Nigeria of hindering the refinery's local crude procurement. The global corporations inflate the purchase price, leading Dangote to import from the US to cut costs, he said, adding that this tactic aims to keep Nigeria reliant on foreign petroleum products, benefitting host countries over Nigeria.
"It appears that the objective of the [international oil companies] is to ensure that Nigeria remains a country, which exports crude oil and imports refined petroleum products," he told the local media. "They are keen on exporting the raw materials to their home countries, creating employment and wealth for their countries, adding to their Gross Domestic Product, and dumping the expensive refined products into Nigeria, thus making us to be dependent on imported products."
The vice president of Dangote reiterated that the multinational corporations were using the same tactic they had been using for every commodity, forcing Sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria to deal with unemployment and poverty while enriching themselves at Nigeria's expense.
Edwin urged the Nigerian Upstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in particular to take tougher action to safeguard national interests. According to the vice president, the governing body is aimlessly issuing import licenses to oil traders.
"Recently, the government of Ghana, through legislation, has banned the importation of highly contaminated diesel and PMS (petrol) into their county," he added. "It is regrettable that in Nigeria, import licences are granted, despite knowing that we have the capacity to produce nearly double the amount of products needed in Nigeria and even export the surplus."
Dangote refinery, which launched in January 2024 with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, aims to be a leading supplier of petroleum products in Africa, starting domestic gasoline deliveries in July.