Nigeria’s long-running dispute over crude oil supplies to the Dangote Refinery has taken a new turn, with the country’s upstream petroleum regulator challenging the claim that local producers are simply failing to provide enough crude to domestic refineries. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says the bigger issue may be the price refiners are willing to pay for Nigerian crude, rather than a lack of available oil.
Fresh NUPRC figures show that crude deliveries to Nigerian refineries jumped 88% in the second quarter of 2026 to 53.7 million barrels, compared with 28.5 million barrels in the first quarter. The regulator said this represented a 97.4% compliance rate against the 55.1 million barrels allocated for domestic refining. The Dangote Refinery accounted for about 98% of the domestic crude allocation, with producers offering it 68.1 million barrels against its stated quarterly requirement of 63 million barrels.
Despite the large volume offered, Dangote accepted 52.6 million barrels, or roughly 78% of what producers offered. NUPRC chief executive Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan argues that this gap shows the problem is increasingly commercial. Nigerian crude grades are generally considered premium grades, and the regulator says refiners cannot expect to buy them at prices significantly below international market values. Dangote, however, strongly disputes this explanation, saying it remains committed to buying Nigerian crude but needs the right grade, sufficient volume and a commercially competitive price.
The refinery says some crude cargoes described as “offered” are either priced above market benchmarks or are subsequently sold to third parties before negotiations are concluded. It also argues that its supply challenges go beyond pricing, pointing to inconsistent deliveries under its arrangement with NNPC, the involvement of international trading companies and the high cost of transporting crude from offshore Nigerian terminals to Lagos. Dangote says these additional costs can make imported crude economically more attractive when Nigerian barrels are priced above comparable international grades.
At the heart of the dispute is a bigger question about how Nigeria can ensure that its growing refining capacity is supplied with locally produced crude at sustainable prices. NUPRC maintains that stronger long-term supply agreements could help close the gap, while Dangote argues that refinery operators need flexibility to test different crude grades before committing to large, long-term contracts. For now, the numbers suggest that Nigeria has crude available—but getting those barrels into domestic refineries at the right price, quality and commercial terms remains the real challenge. The Dangote Refinery crude supply dispute therefore highlights a deeper tension between producers seeking international-market returns and refiners trying to make domestic processing commercially viable.
source: Theafricareport
