The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has raised concerns about the operation of a new depot, hired by an unnamed international trading company, allegedly to mix and distribute substandard petroleum products in Nigeria.
The depot, situated near Dangote’s facilities, was reportedly leased to blend low-grade fuel products destined for the Nigerian market, which would potentially mislead unsuspecting consumers.
The PUNCH reported that in a recent press release, Dangote Group’s Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, expressed alarm over this activity, warning that it threatens both Nigeria’s refining industry and public safety.
Chiejina’s response was directed at statements from the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and other associations, which had claimed that imported fuel prices were lower than those offered by Dangote’s refinery.
Dangote Group argued that any marketer selling Premium Motor Spirit at lower rates than Dangote’s price is likely importing substandard products with the assistance of international traders, who are working to saturate the Nigerian market with inferior fuel.
Recent reports from oil marketers had indicated that the Dangote refinery’s petrol was priced between N1,015 and N1,028 per liter, depending on purchase quantity.
This pricing prompted some marketers to declare their intent to import and sell fuel at rates lower than Dangote’s and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
Although Dangote refuted these marketers’ claims, the refinery issued a strong statement on Sunday, alleging that an international company was actively involved in blending low-quality fuel products to compete with Dangote’s high-grade output.
The statement read, “We had lately refrained from engaging in media fights, but we are constrained to respond to the recent misinformation being circulated by IPMAN, PETROAN, and other associations. Both organisations claim that they can import PMS at lower prices than what is being sold by the Dangote refinery. We benchmark our prices against international prices and believe our prices are competitive relative to the price of imports.”
Dangote further cautioned that any entity claiming to offer PMS at rates below Dangote’s must be importing low-quality fuel products, with the support of international traders, which poses a risk to both public health and vehicle longevity.
The company also highlighted that an international trading entity had recently leased a depot near Dangote’s facility with the specific intent of blending and introducing substandard products to the Nigerian market to compete with the refinery’s superior products.
The statement continued, “At the same time, an international trading company has recently hired a depot facility next to the Dangote Refinery, with the objective of using it to blend substandard products that will be dumped into the market to compete with Dangote refinery’s higher quality production. This is detrimental to the growth of domestic refining in Nigeria.”
Dangote’s spokesperson further criticized the regulatory environment, particularly the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority for lacking adequate laboratory resources to screen and identify these substandard products.
Chiejina noted, “Unfortunately, the regulator, NMDPRA does not even have laboratory facilities that can be used to detect substandard products when imported into the country.”
In terms of its pricing strategy, Dangote announced that the refinery sells petrol at a reduced price of N960 per liter for ship-based deliveries and N990 per liter for truck-based supplies, following the recent deregulation in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
Comparatively, NNPC set its rates at N971 per liter for ship-based sales and N990 per liter for trucks.
“Post deregulation, NNPC set the pace by selling PMS to domestic marketers at N971 per liter for sale into ships and at N990 for sale into trucks. This set the benchmark for our pricing, and we have even gone lower to sell at N960 per liter for sale into ships while maintaining N990 per liter for sale into trucks. In good faith, and in the interest of the country, we commenced sales at these prices without clarity on the exchange rate that we will use to pay for the crude purchased.”
Dangote further defended the Federal Government’s protective stance on domestic industries, noting it is a standard practice in other nations to support local industries.
“We should point out that it is not unusual for countries to protect their domestic industries in order to provide jobs and grow the economy. For example, the US and Europe have had to impose high tariffs on EVs and microchips in order to protect their domestic industries.”
Reaffirming Dangote’s commitment to affordable and quality domestic petroleum products, Chiejina urged Nigerians to disregard the misinformation spread by groups favoring imported fuel, stating:
“While we continue with our determination to provide affordable, good quality, domestically refined petroleum products in Nigeria, we call on the public to disregard the deliberate disinformation being circulated by agents of people who prefer for us to continue to export jobs and import poverty.”
