Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery is set to get just over 80% of its crude feedstock from domestic sources in the third quarter, according to Bloomberg data.
The mega-refinery is taking more of the country’s own oil for processing, while inflows from the US appear to be waning.
That compares with less than three-quarters in the prior quarter, according to tanker-tracking data and information from traders.
Oil prices were pressured last month on reports that the plant planned on re-selling some of the US barrels it previously purchased, underscoring the pivotal role Dangote already plays within Atlantic basin petroleum markets.
The refinery’s efforts to dial back overseas crude purchases potentially leave more US export barrels competing for buyers elsewhere.
The pivot could even gather pace in the coming months. From October, the Nigerian government is starting a new system in which Dangote will be able to purchase crude in the local currency. The plan could involve as much as 445,000 barrels a day of the nation’s crude.
The refinery — near the nation’s commercial hub Lagos — has taken in more than 56 million barrels of crude since December as it completed test runs and gradually lifted processing. Of that, 78% has been local supply.
It took six cargoes of crude directly from state oil company Nigerian National Petroleum Co. for next month, a company spokesman said earlier this month.
Most Nigerian cargoes are about one million barrels each. A further two shipments from Nigeria as well as two million barrels of WTI Midland are slated for September arrival, the tanker-tracking data show.
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