Following the statement by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) that it is not the only off-taker for Dangote and other local refineries, independent marketers are now free to lift petrol directly from Dangote refinery.... CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HERE▶▶
The Dangote Refinery launched its petrol into the Nigerian market on September 3, 2024.
Still, marketers have been unable to lift the product from the 650,000bdp-capacity refinery as talks between the refinery management and the NNPC are ongoing.
NNPC says it is not the sole distributor for Dangote
The NNPC had disclosed that it expects to begin lifting products from the refinery on September 15, 2024, as that is the date given by the refinery.
During the petrol launch, Dangote said that NNPC, which holds about a 7% stake in the facility, will be the sole distributor of its products.
However, the national oil firm, responding to the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), said the refinery and others across the country are free to sell to anyone as it is a free market.
The NNPC disclosed that this is the practice for deregulated products, stating that it has no plan to become the sole distributor for any entity in a free market.
Therefore, the notion of a sole off-taker for Dangote Refinery has yet to arise.
NNPC says Dangote is free to sell to marketers
The company’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, disclosed this as he responded to a Muslim group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), which said that the actions of the NNPC are undermining the Dangote Refinery Limited (DRL).
Soneye said that MURIC asserted that recent changes to fuel pump prices would prevent the Dangote Refinery from offering lower petrol prices to Nigerians as the NNPC became the sole buyer of all products from the refinery.
According to the NNPC, it will only fully offtake petrol from the Dangote refinery if market prices are higher than pump prices in Nigeria, stating that Dangote and any other refinery are free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis.
Data shows states with the highest petrol prices
Legit.ng previously reported that the pain of the recently increased petrol prices has spread across the country as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) hiked prices nationwide.
Findings show that some fuel stations in Rivers, Kebbi, and other Nigerian states now sell the product between N1,300 and N1,400 per litre.
As of Friday, September 6, 2024, the NNPC sold the product in Abuja at N897 per litre.
