Pricing, Supply Challenges Persist With Dangote Refinery – DAPPMAN
The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) says its members are facing serious challenges in accessing petrol from the Dangote Refinery due to restrictive sales methods and unclear pricing structures.
Speaking at the West African Refined Products Pricing and Markets Development Conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Olufemi Adewole, Executive Secretary of DAPPMAN, said: “Since the advent of Dangote Refinery, it has not been smooth sailing at all. We had preliminary meetings with the management of Dangote refinery. We had promises and assurances that we would be accommodated.”
He added: “We are ready and up till now we’re still ready and willing to patronise Dangote. But the issue is, is Dangote ready to give us a product we want?”
According to Adewole, Dangote refinery gives preferential treatment to select partners. “It is when you get in, they now give you a pro forma invoice (PFI), but he has a selected group that he wants to trade with.”
He also noted that the refinery prefers gantry loading, which is not feasible for marketers with hundreds of retail outlets. “You cannot tell somebody that has 400 retail outlets spread over this country to bring trucks to Lekki to come and load for 400 filling stations. It’s not feasible, it’s not workable.”
DAPPMAN has urged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to step in and prevent monopolistic practices. “We want them to be able to promote competition and checkmate any anti-competitive act from anybody along the value chain,” Adewole said.
