The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has maintained that it supplied every available crude oil cargo allocated under the Federal Government's naira-for-crude initiative to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, dismissing suggestions that it withheld feedstock from the $20bn facility.
The clarification came after a senior official of the Dangote Group disclosed that the refinery had been receiving only about four million barrels of crude oil monthly under the naira-for-crude arrangement, significantly below the estimated 13 million barrels expected following President Bola Tinubu's directive in 2024. The refinery had cited the supply shortfall as the reason for suspending naira-denominated fuel sales and switching to dollar-based transactions for petroleum products.
Responding to the claims on Monday, NNPCL's spokesperson, Andy Odeh, said the national oil company had fully honoured its obligations under the naira-for-crude policy, stressing that every crude cargo available under the arrangement in 2026 had been allocated to the Dangote refinery.
"As a 7.25 per cent equity shareholder in Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, NNPCL has a direct and genuine interest in seeing the refinery operate at full capacity. That is not in dispute," Odeh said.
He explained that the figures being circulated required proper context, noting that crude deliveries under the arrangement depended on several operational factors beyond NNPCL's control.
"Under the naira-denominated crude supply arrangement, NNPCL has allocated 100 per cent of all available naira crude cargoes to DPRP in 2026 there has been no withholding on our part. Actual off-take in any period is shaped by several variables: crude availability, nomination timelines, and the refinery's own operational scheduling," he stated.
Odeh added that NNPCL had fulfilled its 2026 supply obligations and remained in continuous engagement with the Dangote refinery to address any operational gaps.
"NNPCL has met its 2026 supply obligations to the refinery. Our engagement with DPRP management remains constructive, and where any gaps exist, we are resolving them together — as the partners we are. A fully supplied, fully operational Dangote refinery serving the Nigerian market is an obligation NNPCL shares without reservation," he added.
Despite NNPCL's position, a senior Dangote Group executive insisted that crude volumes supplied under the initiative remained inadequate to sustain naira-based fuel sales. According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, the refinery had been receiving only four million barrels of crude monthly despite Nigeria's improving crude oil production.
The official said the refinery had no option but to increase exports of refined petroleum products in order to earn foreign exchange, especially as imported petroleum products continued to flood the domestic market.
"Since the traders have brought lots of imported products to the market, we are focusing on exports. We can't, and we shouldn't be fighting against the government's policies," the official said.
When asked whether prioritising exports would affect domestic fuel supply, the official argued that government policies encouraging imports had created an uneven competitive environment.
"Is issuing massive import licences and releasing forex for imports good for the country, when 45 per cent of our production can meet 100 per cent of the entire country's requirements in terms of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel?" the official queried.
The executive further maintained that crude supplied under the naira-for-crude arrangement would continue to be processed and the equivalent value of refined products supplied in naira through NNPCL.
"We will account for every barrel of crude we receive against the naira payment by supplying equivalent products in naira. We will do that through the NNPCL. The NNPCL buys a lot from us," the official added.
The development comes as Dangote Refinery last week introduced a dollar-denominated pricing template for local marketers, fixing ex-depot prices at $0.779 per litre for petrol, $1.087 per litre for diesel and $0.942 per litre for aviation fuel. The decision has sparked concerns among marketers over its potential impact on domestic fuel prices, even as the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority maintained that the move complies with the Petroleum Industry Act, which allows refiners to recover their production costs.