The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has reaffirmed its commitment to supplying crude oil to the Dangote Refinery, clarifying that any such supply will be based on a commercially driven, willing buyer–willing seller model.
Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, made this known in a recent interview with Bloomberg, where he addressed questions about the flow of domestic crude to Africa’s largest refinery.
Ojulari emphasized that the Dangote Refinery operates as a private commercial venture, and as such, retains the autonomy to import crude oil independently to sustain its operations.
“First of all, Dangote Refinery is a commercial investment, so the refinery has the flexibility to import crude for its survival.
If you look at it commercially, we have to do more to ensure that there is a balance in terms of the crude coming from domestic; we are working on that, and we think that will improve.
But what we want to do is move away from government domination in private sector businesses. We want the private to have the freedom.
If Nigeria is to provide crude oil supply to Dangote Refinery, it will be on a commercially willing buyer and willing seller basis.”
Ojulari noted that while efforts are ongoing to increase domestic crude allocation to the refinery, the broader goal is to reduce government involvement in private sector operations, fostering a freer market environment.
This update comes shortly after Devakumar Edwin, President of Dangote Industries, stated in an interview that the refinery aims to source 100% of its crude locally by the end of December 2025.
As part of ongoing efforts to localize crude transactions, President Bola Tinubu had directed in July 2024 that crude oil be sold to the Dangote Refinery in Naira, a policy which was put into effect in October 2024.
In April 2025, the Technical Sub-Committee on Crude and Refined Product Sales in Naira confirmed that the initiative would continue indefinitely.