Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has said Nigeria does not currently have enough crude oil to supply the Dangote Petroleum Refinery with its daily requirement of 700,000 barrels.
Oyedele explained that the country was yet to reach a production level that would enable it to meet the refinery’s entire crude oil demand while also satisfying other domestic and export commitments.
“We (Nigeria) are still not at the point where we can give Dangote Refinery 700,000 barrels of crude oil; we don’t have enough to service Dangote Refinery,” he said.
The minister spoke on Friday while fielding questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
His comments come amid ongoing concerns over Nigeria’s crude oil production capacity and the supply of crude to the Dangote Refinery, Africa’s largest single-train refinery, which has a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
The development also comes as the Federal Government has announced a 30-day petrol discount at Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) filling stations, a move aimed at providing temporary relief to motorists and other fuel consumers amid the high cost of petroleum products.
The government said the temporary discount would run for 30 days, raising questions about how the measure would affect pump prices and whether consumers would experience significant relief from the persistent rise in transportation and living costs.
The initiative has also drawn reactions from opposition figures, who have questioned its timing and sustainability, arguing that a short-term price reduction may not address the underlying challenges in the downstream petroleum sector.