‘You Can Now Buy Petrol Directly From Us’ – Dangote Group Tells Neusroom
Barely 24 hours after Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited announced that the Port Harcourt refinery had begun loading refined petroleum products, Dangote Refinery, in an advertisement on Wednesday, November 27, asked Nigerians to buy petrol at N970 per litre.
Promising high-quality Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) that is safe for vehicles and environmentally friendly, the mega refinery stated that Nigerians can now “buy a minimum of 2 million litres at N970 per litre.”
Also Read: Dangote Petroleum Refinery Slashes Petrol Price to N970 per Litre for Oil Marketers
Anthony Chiejina, Dangote Group’s Communication Officer, confirmed to Neusroom that Nigerians—regardless of whether they are members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN)—can now lift petrol directly from the refinery.
Since the refinery, owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, started producing petrol in September, the facility has faced challenges, including the reluctance of independent oil marketers to lift the product.
Earlier, Dangote had expressed concern over the hesitation of marketers to lift products from his refinery, revealing that he had over 500 million litres in stock.
“At full capacity, we can even supply whatever is being consumed. But what I estimated as consumption—which I believe may be about 30, 32 million litres daily—we can start producing by next week. So, it is not really an issue because, as we speak today, we have 500 million litres in our tanks,” Dangote said after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu on October 29.
He continued:
“On the streets, one thing that you have to understand is that we are producers. I have a refinery. I’m not in the business of retail. If I’m in the business of retail, then you hold me responsible,” Dangote said.
“But what I’m saying is that the retailers should please come forward and pick [up the product]. If they don’t come forward and pick, what do you want me to do? There is nothing that I can do.”
Recall that oil marketers had claimed that importing petrol is cheaper than buying from Dangote Refinery. This claim was refuted by Dangote Refinery, which stated on November 4 that any imported petrol selling below Dangote’s price is substandard.
“If anyone claims they can land PMS at a price cheaper than what we are selling, then they are importing substandard products and conniving with international traders to dump low-quality products into the country, without concern for the health of Nigerians or the longevity of their vehicles,” the statement by Dangote Refinery reads in part.
Despite Dangote’s reassurances that the refinery has the capacity to cater to Nigeria’s petroleum consumption, data seen by Neusroom shows that the country continues to import over 200,000 barrels of petrol per day (31.8 million litres).
In a related development, oil marketers have threatened to boycott petrol from the Port Harcourt refinery if the state-owned product is not sold cheaper than the one from Dangote Refinery.
