The Dangote Group has firmly denied allegations that its subsidiary, Dangote Refinery, has been reselling crude oil.
The refutation follows a report by Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, that claimed the refinery was offloading its crude due to technical issues with its Crude Distillation Unit (CDU).
According to Bloomberg’s report, these sources alleged that Dangote Refinery had been offering various grades of crude for sale, including Nigerian Escravos and Forcados crude, as well as U.S. WTI Midland crude.
In response, Anthony Chiejina, Chief Branding and Communication Officer for Dangote Group, issued a statement on Saturday dismissing the claims. Chiejina asserted that the refinery is not authorized to resell crude oil purchased from Nigeria, emphasizing that the CDU is fully operational and performing efficiently.
“Our attention has been drawn to a misleading report suggesting that our refinery’s crude distillation unit (CDU) is experiencing issues and that we are reselling crude oil,”
“We categorically deny these claims. The Dangote refinery is not authorized to sell crude oil purchased from Nigeria, and our CDU is fully operational and functioning optimally.” the statement read.
Chiejina suggested that the report was driven by parties opposed to the local refining of fuels and advised the public to disregard what he termed a false narrative.
“We advise the public to disregard these false narratives, which are likely driven by interests opposed to local refining of fuels,” he added.
This denial comes amid significant scrutiny and interest in the operations of the Dangote Refinery, which has been seen as a critical project for boosting Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity.
