The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has terminated its unique agreement to purchase fuel exclusively from Dangote Refinery. A corporate spokesman told PREMIUM TIMES, “Yes, it is correct. We can no longer endure that load.
This shift means that other corporations can now purchase petrol directly from Dangote Refinery at current market prices. This represents a significant departure from the previous situation.
Previously, NNPC purchased petrol from Dangote for N898.78 per litre and sold it to other corporations for N765.99 per litre, resulting in a net loss of around N133 per liter. From September 15 to September 30, NNPC received approximately 103 million liters of petrol from the refinery. However, the refinery was only able to fill 2,207 of NNPC’s 3,621 trucks.
This situation began to change after Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, stated in September that Dangote Refinery was beginning to produce petrol and that the NNPC would purchase all of it.
However, NNPCL’s spokesperson, Femi Soneye, later stated that Dangote Refinery was not the only source from which NNPC could purchase items. He emphasized that the NNPC and other corporations might purchase any product from any refinery on a “willing buyer, willing seller” basis, much as diesel and kerosene are traded.
Soneye further stated that petrol pricing from any refinery, including Dangote, are determined by worldwide markets, not only where it is produced. He went on: “There is no promise that making petrol in Nigeria will always be cheaper than the international price.”
Finally, he stated that the NNPC would only buy all of Dangote’s petrol if it was less than the market price in Nigeria. He stated that all refineries in Nigeria are free to sell their goods to anyone they like.
