The Presidency has advised founder of Dangote Group, Nigerian multinational industrial conglomerate, Aliko Dangote to buy crude oil for his refinery from other sources and not rely on Nigeria alone.
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Temitope Ajayi, said this via a Saturday statement.
Ajayi said reports claiming that the Dangote Refinery could not find sufficient crude oil from Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and had to rely on importation from the United States, should not be seen from the wrong light.
Ajayi said no refinery all over the world gets its crude for refining from only one source. He said refineries in the United States, Saudi Arabia and Russia also buy crude oil from sources outside their country of operations.
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He said, “I think beyond emotions, there is a need for better understanding around this whole talk about Dangote Refinery and local crude supply.
“As much as I know, I don’t think there is any refinery in the world that relies on just one source of crude oil supply.
“Even refineries in Saudi Arabia, Russia and US – the three countries that are the largest crude oil-producing nations in the world – still import crude from other countries.”
President Tinubu’s aide on Media said it would amount to failure if Dangote Refinery depended only on Nigeria crude oil for operation.
“It will amount to poor supply chain management and strategy and setting itself for failure if Dangote Refinery relies on only crude oil from Nigeria for its business. Yes, the refinery should be able to buy crude from Nigeria as much as it can buy from any other sources outside Nigeria,” Ajayi added.
