The decision of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to suspend crude supply to the Dangote and other refineries affected the output of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in March.

A Reuters survey found that OPEC oil output fell in March as Nigeria curbed deliveries to domestic refineries.

In March, supply from Nigeria, Iran, and Venezuela fell by 50,000 bpd each, the survey found.

Nigerian supply was said to have declined “due to reduced deliveries to the Dangote refinery, offsetting higher exports.” Reuters stated that Nigeria is pumping slightly above its OPEC quota.

In March, OPEC pumped 26.63 million barrels per day, down 110,000 bpd from February’s total, the survey showed, with Nigeria, Iran and Venezuela posting the largest drops of 50,000 bpd each.

Iranian and Venezuelan supply had dropped on renewed United States attempts to curb the flows.

It was learnt that NNPC delayed the delivery of seven cargoes of crude oil it allocated to the Dangote refinery last month.

A report by S&P Global said the supply was delayed by the NNPC over the failure of both parties to agree on payment terms.

The report disclosed that the cargoes were to deliver around 245,000 barrels per day in April. This amounts to 7.2 million barrels in 30 days.

“According to trade sources and Nigerian port authorities, NNPC has allocated seven crude oil cargoes to deliver around 245,000 barrels per day to the Dangote site in April but is yet to agree on payment terms,” the report stated.

It was gathered that the NNPC and Dangote have been embroiled in disputes over payment terms following the seeming termination of the naira-for-crude deal.

Aside from the seeming termination of the naira deal, it was gathered that the credit facilities given to Dangote were withdrawn.

Sources said the refinery is now expected to submit letters of credit before the delivery of crude cargoes.

An NNPC official declined to comment on the matter, saying transactions are not done in the open.