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Nigeria's Dangote Refinery continues WTI purchasing spree in July

Three trading sources have confirmed that Nigeria's Dangote refinery will import five million barrels (or more) of U.S. WTI Crude Oil in July. This is a continuation of its purchasing spree following a possible record tally for June.

Sources said that the giant new 650,000 barrel-per-day (bpd), oil refinery will import 161,000 barrels of WTI per day in July, after recent tenders were awarded. This is on the back of the record 300,000 barrels per day booked in June's tenders.

The final totals of the month may change if the refinery makes more purchases.

Traders said that the buying spree highlights increased competition for oil exporters as OPEC+ producers increase output. U.S. crudes are struggling to compete with UAE Murban crude in Asia, which has a six-month low spot premium.

Sources said that commodity trader Vitol provided two million barrels of oil for delivery in July, Azeri State-owned Socar supplied another two millions barrels and miner Glencore sold one million barrels.

Glencore, Vitol, and the Dangote refinery did not respond immediately to our request for comment about the results of this tender.

No one has confirmed the sellers of nine million barrels Dangote had allegedly bought in an earlier bid for arrival in June. The tender details are not public.

Kpler, a global shipping analytics company, has revealed that Dangote had previously set a record of 173,000 barrels per day (bpd) for U.S. oil imports in April.

Kpler reports that the Dangote refinery purchases WTI semi-regularly since March 2024, but mainly Nigerian crude grades. The data shows that in 2025, it also purchased spot cargoes of crude from Angola and Equatorial Guinea as well as Algeria and Brazil.

According to IIR, the refinery will operate at a reduced rate until October as a result of recurring issues over the past few months.

A spokesperson for the refinery said that it is ramping up to 85% of its operating capacity. IIR reported that the refinery had been operating at 80% capacity since mid-March.

(source: Reuters)