India’s state-owned refiners have turned to Nigerian crude after shunning Russian supplies, while Nigeria’s $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery is now sourcing the majority of its feedstock from the United States.
The shift comes after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened sanctions on India over its continued patronage of Russian oil, prompting a scramble for alternative suppliers.
According to Reuters, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) recently bought one million barrels of Nigeria’s Agbami crude for September 2025 delivery through a tender awarded to global trader Trafigura. The deal also included one million barrels of Angola’s Girassol, one million barrels of U.S. Mars, three million barrels of Abu Dhabi’s Murban, and an additional two million barrels of Nigerian grades.
Industry sources said the purchases are part of a broader post-July sourcing spree, with Indian refiners snapping up millions of barrels from non-Russian suppliers. Bharat Petroleum is also reported to have secured a million barrels of non-Russian crude for delivery between September and October.
Indian refiners, which had focused heavily on discounted Russian oil since 2022, pulled back from Moscow’s supplies in late July 2025 following pressure from Washington.
Meanwhile, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, is increasingly dependent on U.S. barrels. Data from commodities analytics firm Kpler shows that in July, U.S. crude accounted for about 60% of the refinery’s record 590,000 barrels per day intake, with Nigerian grades making up the remaining 40%.
Kpler noted this was the first time American crude overtook Nigerian supply at the facility, a development driven by ongoing domestic sourcing challenges.
“While West Texas Intermediate (WTI) has held a significant share in Dangote’s imports since March, this is the first time U.S. crude has overtaken Nigerian supply — a shift driven by several factors,” the firm stated.
The refinery’s July crude imports, averaging 10 million barrels for the month, underline a growing reliance on foreign feedstock despite a naira-for-crude deal with the Federal Government launched in October 2024
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