A fresh dispute has emerged between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) over crude oil supplies to the refinery in the second quarter of 2026. The regulator claimed that oil producers offered the refinery 68.1 million barrels of crude between April and June, but only 52.6 million barrels were accepted, meaning about 15.5 million barrels of the offered volume was not taken.
According to the NUPRC’s Q2 2026 report on the enforcement of the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation (DCSO), the Dangote Refinery required 63 million barrels during the period, while producers offered a higher volume of 68.1 million barrels. The commission said the refinery eventually accepted 52.6 million barrels, representing 78 per cent of the crude offered. The figures formed part of the regulator’s assessment of how effectively producers were meeting their obligation to supply domestic refineries.
The NUPRC also reported that 53.7 million barrels of crude oil and condensate were supplied to local refiners between April and June, representing an overall DCSO performance rate of 97.4 per cent. The commission attributed the improvement to increased local oil production and the growing number of long-term crude supply agreements between producers and domestic refiners. However, it noted that the DCSO framework operates on a “willing buyer, willing seller” basis, meaning actual transactions can differ from the volumes initially offered or allocated.
The monthly figures showed some significant changes during the quarter. In April, actual crude supply reached 20.88 million barrels, exceeding the allocated volume and representing 114.9 per cent performance. Supply dropped to 14.23 million barrels in May, translating to 75.8 per cent compliance, before rising again to 18.61 million barrels in June, representing 102.4 per cent performance. The NUPRC said it would continue enforcing the DCSO as part of efforts to strengthen domestic refining and move Nigeria closer to energy sufficiency.
But the Dangote Refinery has challenged the regulator’s figures, demanding evidence of the crude it was allegedly offered and rejected. Dangote spokesman Anthony Chiejina called for the NUPRC to provide detailed statistics, including when the crude was offered, so the refinery could compare the records with its own data. The disagreement places fresh attention on Nigeria’s domestic crude supply system and raises questions about how much crude is actually being made available to local refiners as the country pushes to reduce dependence on imported petroleum products.
source: punch
