Libya denies talks with Dangote refinery on crude supply
CHIGOZIE AMADI
Libya’s National Oil Corporation has denied that it was in talks to supply crude oil to any refinery in Nigeria, including the Dangote refinery.
This is coming following claims by some top refinery officials that the refinery was in talks with Libya for crude supply.
But in a statement shared on its X handle on Sunday, the Libyan oil corporation denied negotiating or entering into talks regarding the crude oil supply to any Nigerian refinery.
The statement, written in Arabic, translates: “The National Oil Corporation denies that it has negotiated or entered into any talks regarding the supply of crude oil to an oil refinery in Nigeria.
“The National Oil Corporation also confirms that it is committed to its contracts with its international partners and is committed to the legal mechanism for selling Libyan oil raw materials and that it does not work with an immediate sales mechanism.
“In addition, the process of determining raw materials prices is carried out through a committee of experts and is approved by the corporation and the Ministry of Oil and Gas.”
The 650,000 barrels per day Dangote refinery has been having issues with local crude supply since it commenced operations in January.
Recently, officials of the refinery accused International Oil Companies of frustrating the refinery by refusing to supply crude or selling at a premium.
The Dangote Group has since resorted to importing feedstock from the United States and others.
On Saturday, there were allegations that the refinery was reselling its crude to other traders.
The spokesperson of the company, Tony Chiejina, had said the refinery was sourcing crude from Libya and Angola.
“Outright falsehood. We are sourcing more crude from Angola and Libya. Also, our Crude Distillation Unit is functioning perfectly well. You may wish to visit the refinery even today or tomorrow,” Chiejina told our correspondent.
