TotalEnergies Strikes Supply Deal with Dangote Refinery in Nigeria

TotalEnergies has finalized its first supply agreement with the Dangote Refinery in Nigeria, Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne announced on Friday during the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali.

The deal was struck following a meeting between Pouyanne and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.

“We met this morning and made the first deal between both of us,” Pouyanne revealed to the panel. “The two CEOs met with our head of trading, and we found a way to convince them to make a deal.”

Dangote has been pursuing crude oil supplies for his 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery, which will become the largest in Africa and Europe once it reaches full capacity.

In May, Dangote Refinery issued a tender for two million barrels of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland crude each month for a year starting in July, according to a tender document seen by Reuters.

The refinery, which began production in January, represents a $20 billion investment. Dangote’s goal is to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuel and refined products, despite the country being Africa’s largest oil producer.

He asserted that the refinery has enough capacity to supply gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel to the African continent and export to Brazil.

“We started producing jet fuel, we are producing diesel, and by next month, we’ll be producing gasoline,” Dangote told the panel. “Our capacity is too big for Nigeria. It will be able to supply West Africa, Central Africa, and also Southern Africa.”

The next phase of the refinery is scheduled to commence early next year, Dangote added.

TotalEnergies is a reputable French oil firm which has been in operations for many years in Nigeria.