Devakumar Edwin, the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), has accused International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria of sabotaging the Dangote Oil Refinery and Petrochemicals. Edwin claims that the IOCs are deliberately obstructing the refinery’s efforts to purchase local crude oil,Daily Trust reports.
According to Edwin, these companies inflate premium prices above market rates, forcing the refinery to import crude from distant countries, which significantly increases costs. He made these remarks while speaking to a group of Energy Editors at a one-day training program organized by the Dangote Group.
“While the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) is doing its best to allocate crude to us, the IOCs are intentionally frustrating our efforts to buy local crude,” Edwin said. He noted that the NUPRC recently met with crude oil producers and refinery owners in Nigeria to ensure compliance with Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligations (DCSO) under section 109(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). However, Edwin believes the IOCs aim to see the Dangote Petroleum Refinery fail.
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“They either demand exorbitant premiums or claim that crude is unavailable. At one point, we paid $6 above the market price,” Edwin explained. This situation has led the refinery to reduce output and import crude from as far away as the US, increasing production costs.
These comments come shortly after Aliko Dangote, founder, chairman, and CEO of the Dangote Group, revealed that both local and international mafias attempted multiple times to sabotage his $19 billion refinery project. Speaking at the Afreximbank annual meetings and the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum in Nassau, The Bahamas, Dangote said many entities tried to hinder the 650,000 barrels per day facility.
“Well, I knew there would be resistance, but I didn’t expect it to be so intense. The mafia in oil is stronger than the mafia in drugs. It’s a fact. The local and foreign mafia tried several times to sabotage the refinery,” Dangote stated.
