Nigerian refineries including the Dangote Refinery have raised their domestic crude requirements for the second half of 2024 to 597,700 barrels per day from 483,000 bpd in the first half, the national oil regulator said, despite tight domestic supply.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) was only able to help secure 177,777 bpd from oil producers in the first six months of the year, way below what the refiners had asked for, it said in a statement released on Friday.

The refineries' rising crude requirements and oil producers' struggle to meet demand has put the 650,000-bpd Dangote Refinery in particular at odds with the regulator.

Dangote Refinery has accused, opens new tab the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) of failing to enforce a law that requires oil producers to supply domestic refiners, saying in a statement on Friday that lax enforcement was raising its operational costs.

The refinery, which is the largest in Africa, says it is having to increase crude imports due to the insufficient domestic supplies and this could impact its ambitions this year and its long-term prospects, opens new tab.

The NUPRC said oil producers could not satisfy the demands because some had operational challenges while others pledged most of their output to traders who financed drilling. It also said forcing them to raise their supply would violate their contracts.