Freight costs for crude shipments from Nigerian terminals to the Dangote Refinery have surged to $3.5 million a day from about $800,000 a day last week, the refinery's Managing Director David Bird said on Monday, blaming the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Bird said the Dangote Refinery was operating at full capacity of 650,000 barrels a day, and will keep operating as long as it maintains access to Nigerian crude at international benchmark prices.
A week ago, crude prices were, "hovering in a stable range in the mid-60s. Now $118," Bird told reporters in Lagos.
"You look at freight rates, (it) cost us about $800,000 a day to bring crude on a tanker from a Nigerian terminal to our refinery. That's currently $3.5 million."
(Reporting by Isaac Anyaogu; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Jan Harvey)