Why Africa’s Oil Producing Giant Nigeria Is Importing US Crude

The purchase by Nigeria’s new mega refinery of 2 million barrels of crude from the US has raised questions about why a petro-state isn’t using its own supply to feed the giant plant.

Built to a capacity of 650,000 barrels a day and owned by Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, the Dangote oil refinery has long been seen as a welcome end to a legacy of sending the nation’s crude abroad for processing, and a reliance on costly foreign fuel.

The purchase, reported by Bloomberg on Monday, was covered widely by Nigerian media, with some asking why Dangote was ...