The Dangote Refinery in Lagos has denied selling petrol to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for N898 a litre.
In a statement issued late Sunday, Anthony Chiejina, a refinery spokesman, described the NNPCL’s claim as “misleading and mischievous”.
He stated, “Our attention has been called to a statement attributed to NNPCL spokesperson, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, claiming that we sell our PMS to the NNPCL for N898 per litre.
“This statement is both misleading and mischievous, deliberately aimed at undermining the milestone achievement recorded today, September 15, 2024, towards addressing energy insufficiency and insecurity, which has bedeviled the economy in the past 50 years.
“We urge Nigerians to disregard this malicious statement and await a formal announcement on the pricing, by the Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales to local refineries, appointed by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, which will commence on October 1, 2024, bearing in mind that our current stock of crude was procured in dollars.
“It should also be noted that we sold the products to NNPCL in dollars with a lot of savings against what they are currently importing. With this action, there will be petrol in every local government area of the country regardless of their remote nature.”
The NNPCL began loading the first batch of petrol from the Dangote Refinery on Sunday.
Last December, Dangote, Africa’s leading industrialist, began operations at his $20 billion complex in Lagos, producing 350,000 barrels per day.
The refinery, which was previously hampered by regulatory disputes, wants to reach full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year.
The refinery has begun to deliver diesel and aviation fuel to the country’s marketers, as well as petrol.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is facing energy issues, with all of its state-owned refineries inoperable. The country relies significantly on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-owned NNPC being the primary importer of these critical commodities.
Fuel lineups are widespread throughout the country. Since the elimination of subsidies in May 2023, petrol prices have tripled from around ₦200/litre to around ₦1000/litre. This has compounded the woes of Nigerians who rely on petrol to power their vehicles and generators due to the decades-long epileptic energy supply.
