Efforts of the Nigerian government to mandate upstream oil producers to allocate a portion of their output to domestic refineries were resisted by several companies last year, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has disclosed.
According to a report by the commission, the oil firms resisted supplying crude to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other local plants, citing various reasons.
As the regulator strived to enforce the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation, it was said that oil producers submitted formal letters requesting waivers or outlining why they could not meet the monthly crude volumes allocated to them under the DCSO.
The resistance, it was learnt, came despite multiple engagements and the gazetting of the Production Curtailment and Domestic Crude Supply Obligation Regulations in September 2023.
“Several pushbacks from IPPG (Independent Petroleum Producers Group), OPTS (Oil Producers Trade Section), some producers and their equity partners were received via formal letters, either requesting for waivers on the allocated monthly obligations or giving detailed explanations why they might not be able to meet up with the allocated volumes,” the report stated.
