Table of Contents
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, bought more than $7 million worth of crude oil in July from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Limited) for his $20-billion Lagos refinery, according to an official filing.
The internal NNPC document, submitted to the Federation Account Allocation Committee, shows the purchase as the first reported crude supply to the refinery since the government renewed its naira-for-crude policy earlier this year.
Dangote refinery secures 32% July crude
The July records put NNPC’s total crude sales at 340,000 barrels valued at $22.5 million, or N34.64 billion. Dangote Petroleum Refinery received 100,000 barrels of Okwuibome crude, produced by SEEPCO and shipped on the vessel Sonangol Kalandula.
Priced at $72.1 per barrel, the supply amounted to $7.21 million, converted at N1,553.27 per dollar into N11.2 billion. That single cargo represented 32 percent of NNPC’s July crude revenue. The remaining sales included 220,000 barrels of Antan blend for $14.02 million and 20,000 barrels from a smaller parcel valued at $1.27 million.
Policy backdrop
The crude lifting took place under the naira-for-crude program introduced in October 2024. The initiative requires NNPC to sell to domestic refineries in naira rather than dollars, a move aimed at easing pressure on foreign-exchange reserves, ensuring feedstock for local plants, and cutting the nation’s reliance on imported fuel.
In March, Dangote had briefly suspended sales of refined products in naira, citing a mismatch between naira revenues and dollar-denominated crude costs. The government later reaffirmed the policy, designating it a long-term measure, with Afreximbank brought in to advise on exchange rates used for settlement.
Broader strategy
For Dangote—whose wealth Bloomberg estimates at $28.7 billion—steady crude supply is key to the viability of his refinery, the largest single-train plant in the world. The Ibeju-Lekki facility has capacity to process up to 650,000 barrels a day, a scale that could reshape Nigeria’s fuel market and eventually make the country a net exporter of refined products.
For Nigeria, directing local crude to the Lagos refinery is seen as a crucial step in reducing the billions spent annually on fuel imports. Still, uncertainty lingers over how much crude will be allocated to Dangote, how transparent the pricing system will be, and whether the refinery can consistently meet domestic demand while competing with imported supplies.
