ANOTHER CHALLENGE! Dangote And NNPC In Fresh Dispute Over Dangote’s Fuel; SEE What Was Announced That’s Worrisome
The ongoing sale- purchase agreement between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Dangote Refinery has encountered fresh disputes concerning the volume of premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, supplied by Dangote. As the country continues to grapple with fuel shortages and rising costs, tensions between the two entities have escalated over differing claims about the quantity of fuel delivered.
According to findings by Vanguard on September 18, 2024, NNPCL remains skeptical about Dangote Refinery’ s ability to meet the agreed- upon supply volumes. The national oil company expressed concerns that Dangote had failed to deliver the 25 million liters of petrol it promised, with only 16. 8 million liters reportedly supplied as of the previous weekend. However, Dangote Refinery refuted these claims, asserting that it had already delivered 111 million liters of petrol over three days, from Sunday to Tuesday, with continuous loading still ongoing.
In a statement to Vanguard, Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer for Dangote Refinery, emphasized that the company was actively refining petrol and had no obstacles in meeting its supply commitments. ” We have already loaded 111 million liters of petrol, and the exercise is ongoing. We are refining and have no reason not to load, so we would continue to provide the product to the market, ” he said.
This new figure, if accurate, suggests that Dangote has significantly exceeded its earlier supply commitments, potentially alleviating the country’ s fuel import needs. Nigeria’ s national petrol demand is estimated at over 40 million liters per day, meaning that Dangote’ s production could help stabilize supply and reduce the need for further imports.
Meanwhile, the Executive Vice- President of NNPC’ s Downstream division, Adedapo Segun, provided additional insights into the challenges facing oil marketers in the country. He revealed that despite obtaining import permits for various petroleum products, marketers have largely avoided importing petrol due to unfavorable market conditions. According to Segun, marketers are reluctant to import petrol because it is currently being sold below cost, making it unprofitable for them.
