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Nigeria’s Dangote refinery clarifies stance on crude supply

Published

5 months ago

August 9, 2024

Nigeria’s embattled private refinery, Dangote, has maintained that it has never made any allegations against NNPC over their failure to provide it with crude oil. It, however, said it was only concerned about “NUPRC’s hesitancy to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation and guarantee that we receive our complete crude requirement from NNPC and the IOCs”.

The clarification came in a release by Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief, Branding and Communications Officer of the company. He refuted media reports claiming that the Dangote Refinery had reversed its position, and admitted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) provided around 60% of the 50 million barrels of oil that it obtained.

“For September, we require 15 cargoes, of which NNPC allocated six. Despite appealing to NUPRC, we’ve been unable to secure the remaining cargoes.

“IOCs producing in Nigeria redirected us to their international trading arms or responded that their cargoes were committed, the statement reads in part”.

Last week, the Nigerian government claimed Dangote Refinery would require approximately N1.7tn worth of crude oil every month following a directive by President Bola Tinubu that crude oil be sold to the refinery and other domestic refineries in the local currency, the naira.

The firm further clarified that it “often purchases the same Nigerian crude from international traders at an additional $3-$4 premium per barrel which translates to $3-$4 million per cargo.

“We therefore still insist that we are unable to secure our full crude requirement from domestic production and urge NUPRC to fully enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as mandated by the PIA.”

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the President of Dangote Industries, has said that his refinery is expected to reach a capacity of 500,000 barrels per day in August, and further increase to 550,000 barrels per day by December 2024.

Dangote has been in the news for months over issues surrounding the readiness of the refinery to refine crude after an accusation by the industry regulator that the facility was not ready for maximum operation and had so far churned out substandard products.

Related Topics:DANGOTE REFINERY Featured

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IMF, Egypt reach agreement for fourth review of Egypt’s $1.2 billion loan request

Published

9 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Egypt and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a staff-level agreement over the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility arrangement, which might lead to a $1.2 billion payout under the program.

In March, Egypt, struggling with rising inflation and cash shortages, consented to the $8 billion, 46-month facility. Its economic problems were made worse by a precipitous drop in Suez Canal revenue over the last year due to regional tensions.

Over the next two years, Egypt’s government has committed to raising its tax-to-revenue ratio by 2% of GDP, according to the IMF, emphasising removing exemptions rather than raising taxes.

According to a statement from the IMF, this would allow it to expand social expenditure to support vulnerable populations.

“While the authorities’ plans to streamline and simplify the tax system are commendable, further reforms will be needed to enhance domestic revenue mobilization efforts,” the statement said.

According to the IMF statement, Egypt had also committed to maintaining its commitment to a flexible currency rate and to taking more urgent action to guarantee that the private sector became the primary driver of development.

The IMF’s executive board still has to accept the fourth review’s staff-level agreement.

VenturesNow

Libya’s eastern govt accepts petrol subsidy elimination

Published

9 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In a recent statement, the eastern government of Libya claimed it had reached a consensus on a plan to eliminate gasoline subsidies and would draft a mechanism to carry out the accord.

Additional information on the idea was not released by the administration led by Osama Hamad, a challenger to the internationally acknowledged Tripoli-based government.

However, it is uncertain if Hamad’s government would be able to carry out the plan in the divided nation.

According to the Global Petrol Prices online tracker, a litre of gasoline costs just 0.150 Libyan dinars ($0.03) in OPEC member Libya, making it the second-cheapest in the world.

Following an uprising against former ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, smuggling networks have thrived in the ensuing political unrest and armed fighting. In 2014, conflicting eastern and western governments separated the nation.

A World Bank analysis estimates that the annual value of fuel smuggling from Libya is at least $5 billion.

In a meeting with Mari Barrasi, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), located in Tripoli, and four members of the bank’s board of directors, Hamad in Benghazi supported the idea of removing subsidies.

The CBL’s Benghazi branch offices served as the venue for the conference.

The eastern parliament appointed Hamad in 2023 to succeed Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who had been put in position in 2021 under a U.N.-backed procedure that the parliament said had lost its legitimacy.

Dbeibah, who is located in Tripoli, stated in January that he will conduct a public poll on the topic of eliminating gasoline subsidies, but he hasn’t done anything about it since.

According to CBL figures, gasoline subsidies cost 12.8 billion Libyan dinars between January and November of this year. 4.8 Libyan dinars to $1 is the official exchange rate.