Crisis Erupts As Dangote Exposes Oil Firms’ ‘Shameful’ Scheme To Divert Crude

President of Dangote Industries, Aliko Dangote, has asserted that Nigeria has no justification for importing crude oil or refined petroleum products.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Speaking during a visit by members of the South South Development Commission (SSDC) to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Fertiliser Complex in Lagos, the billionaire industrialist criticised the crude supply practices of international oil companies, insisting that such actions should be impossible if existing laws were properly enforced.

According to Dangote, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) already provides a framework that prioritises domestic crude allocation, yet operators continue to exploit loopholes that undermine the law’s intent.

He revealed that several oil companies regularly divert Nigerian crude to their trading subsidiaries abroad—especially in Switzerland—forcing local refineries to repurchase the crude at a premium of $4–$5 per barrel.

“The crude is available. It’s not about shortage. But companies ship everything to their trading arms, and we are made to buy it back at a premium, while we receive no premium for our own products,” he said.

Dangote added that he has formally petitioned the Federal Government, urging it to calculate royalties and taxes based on the actual sale price of crude to prevent revenue leakage and discourage practices that disadvantage domestic refiners.

He explained that while the NNPC has remained the major supplier—providing five to six cargoes monthly—the refinery needs up to twenty cargoes per month from January to operate at full capacity.

Calling the situation “unsustainable for a nation pursuing meaningful industrial growth,” Dangote stressed that Africa’s economic progress depends on value addition rather than the continuous export of raw materials.

“It is shameful that while we exported 1.5 million tonnes of gasoline in June and July, imported products were still flooding the Nigerian market. That is dumping,” he said.

A report by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) showed that the refinery supplied only 17.08 million litres of the 56.74 million litres consumed in October 2025.

Dangote warned that the refinery will continue exporting its products if regulators allow marketers to keep dumping imported fuel into the country.