Africa’s largest refinery, the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery, is increasingly relying on international suppliers to meet its crude oil needs. Despite having a massive 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity, the refinery has struggled to secure adequate crude supplies locally. 

To address this, the refinery has received over three million barrels of crude from the United States this month and has also imported crude from Angola and Algeria through a deal with Glencore Plc.

The refinery’s founder, Aliko Dangote, announced plans to source crude from other African-producing nations to maintain production levels. This move is aimed at reducing the refinery’s dependence on domestic crude supplies, which have been inconsistent. 

According to the vice-president of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Edwin Devakumar, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) had agreed to supply the refinery with a minimum of 385,000 barrels per day, but has struggled to meet this commitment.

The refinery’s reliance on international suppliers is expected to continue until NNPC can meet its supply commitments.