NNPC boycotts Dangote Refinery surplus as it continues to import Petrol
The rift between Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Dangote Refinery persists as NNPC continues fuel importation.
NNPC was reported to import 1,846,548.202 million metric tonnes of diesel and petrol within 1st October and 11th November, 2024, against reported surplus supply at Dangote Refinery.
Reports say NNPC still continues to import Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), known as petrol, and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), also known as diesel, despite both petroleum products made available in surplus at Dangote Refinery.
Meanwhile, the Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria, recently, opposed plans of petroleum marketers to import PMS, stating the availability of the product at Dangote Refinery.
Importation of petrol and diesel by NNPC was aided by various petroleum marketers across the country, having Pinnacle Oil orchestrating the move.
Reports say Dangote Refinery, since operation, has been turning out AGO (diesel) and Jet-A1 in excess to meet Nigeria’s daily consumption target, still NNPC keeps issuing licenses to other companies.
This development has prompted Dangote Refinery to seek legal redress, imploring Federal High Court to render licenses issued to NNPC and five other companies ‘void and ineffective.’
Howbeit, on Sunday, according to a source who revealed that the marketers are already planning to import the product to continue “their $200 million per month racket.”
The source also said efforts were put in place to ascertain if the imported petroleum products, especially the PMS is subsidised, because that would be the only means that the products will hit the market lower or on the same price level with Dangote Refinery’s.
“I asked whether the fuel is subsidized since that would be the only way they could offer a lower or equal price to Dangote,” the source said.
“We were told they can match or sell at lower price because the imports are off spec, blended and substandard”.
According to the source, he disclosed that NNPC does whatever it likes and gets away with it because the national oil body possesses the “checking facilities so they can provide any quality certificates they want.”
The major beneficiaries of this importation are Northwest, BOVAS, Shorelink, Dozzy, Rainoil, matrix, Prudent, AYM Shafa, Emadeb, Deepwater, Raj, AA Tano, T-Time, Chisco and NNPC itself.
Efforts were staged to contact NNPC spokesperson Olufemi Soneye to address the media on the ongoing issues surrounding the fuel importation by NNPC in spite surplus available at Dangote Refinery was abortive.
Also text messages were sent to his number came back undeliverable, pointing that he was not unreachable at that moment.
It can be recalled that some days ago, three petroleum marketers said before a judge of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals did not produce enough petrol for Nigeria’s daily consumption.
They insisted that if it were not their own efforts and others’ importing petroleum products into the country, the country must have been thrown into crises emanating from huge shortfall.
They noted that without adequate supply and availability of petroleum products in the country, the economy will be gravely affected which will deteriorate the worsening conditions of Nigerians.
They told the court that it will take almost two months for Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE to supply products ordered by marketers, stating that Dangote Refinery never meets demand targets as trucks wait for months before being loaded.
According to the marketers, “hardly ever meets the demand, as trucks wait for months to be loaded at the Plaintiff’s (Dangote) refinery, whereas it takes about three weeks to import petroleum products from offshore refiners.”
According to the acting Manager of AYM Shafa Limited, Ali Ibrahim Abiodun, who disclosed to the court that “forensic material before it showing that the local consumption rate of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) in Nigeria per day is 14 million litre or that the Plaintiff produces 15 million litre per day.
“That there is no credible and verifiable forensic material before this Honourable Court showing that the local consumption rate of Jet fuel (Jet A-1) in Nigeria is 2.5 million litre per day or that the Plaintiff produces 7.5 million litre of Jet fuel (Jet A-1) per day. NNPC Boycotts Dangote Refinery Surplus
“That again, no credible and verifiable forensic piece of evidence is before this noble Court showing that the Plaintiff has the capacity to produce uninterruptedly 35 million litre of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and 9 million Jet A-1 products per day.
“That in light of the above, there is nothing before this Honourable Court showing that the Plaintiff is refining and supplying adequate petroleum products for the daily use/consumption of Nigerians,” he maintained.
The oil marketers accused Dangote Refinery of ignoring fair practice and brought up obnoxious trade operations which demand that a buyer will deposit 110% in Letters of Credit (LC) of any amount it wills to purchase.
They further stated that healthy competition in businesses, trade and investment is the hallmark of a progressive, developing and developed economy.
The marketers expressed their fear and concern over Dangote Refinery pushing to monopolise Nigeria’s energy sector, noting that monopolising the energy sector would in return, bring devastating effects on the Nigeria’s oil sector.
Dangote Refinery is a gigantic petroleum project by Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Africa’s richest man, with the aim of transforming Nigeria’s energy sector.
Dangote Petroleum’s lawsuit against the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and several other petroleum companies has taken an interesting turn.
On 6th September, the plaintiff (Dangote Refinery) hoped that the court made a declaration that NMDPRA violated Section 317 and 9 of the Petroleum Industry Act by issuing licenses for importation of petroleum products.
Dangote Refinery said issuing licenses to marketers to import petroleum products should only be considered when there is apparent shortage in domestic production.
This claim is based on the Sections 317 and 9 of the Petroleum Industry Acts (PIA), which prohibits issuance of import license to only a situation where local refineries are short of demands.
However, the marketers reacted and told the court that they have a “total staff strength of 19,535 employees, majority of whom are Nigerians who earn a living from their remunerations and other fringe benefits accruing to them from the Defendants”.
According to them, the “bulk of the employees of the plaintiff (Dangote Refinery) are foreigners (Indians)”.
“Withdrawing the import licenses lawfully and validly issued to the defendants or denying them further issuance of import licenses will not only cripple the lawful businesses of the defendants which contribute immensely to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but will inescapably result in mass unemployment in the country, as the defendants will be constrained to retrench majority of their employees due to loss of business and earnings for the companies”.
The marketers said “vesting the Plaintiff with the power of monopoly in Nigeria’s petroleum industry as it seeks vide the instant suit, will kill competitive pricing of petroleum products in the country, further deteriorate Nigeria’s critically ailing economy and unleash untold hardship on Nigerians, all of which constitute a recipe for disaster in the polity”.
NNPC Boycotts Dangote Refinery Surplus
