The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has purchased two cargoes of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates, marking its first-ever procurement of Middle Eastern crude as it expands its feedstock sources amid persistent domestic supply constraints.
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. S&P Global reported that an agreement between the refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company had guaranteed the supply of between 13 and 15 cargoes of Nigerian crude monthly in naira, helping the refinery reduce its foreign exchange exposure.
