The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) have presented conflicting accounts on the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) produced and distributed by Dangote Refinery on Sunday.

Independent marketers await clarification on the price from NNPC, the sole off-taker.

Major oil marketers received PMS from NNPC at N766/litre, whereas NNPC claimed to have purchased it from Dangote at N898/litre.

Additionally, NNPC announced plans to load 16.8 million litres of petrol from Dangote Refinery on Sunday, contradicting the refinery’s initial daily supply commitment of 25 million litres.

NNPC spokesperson Olufemi Soneye confirmed over 70 trucks of PMS departed Dangote Refinery on Sunday, marking the commencement of domestic supply.

It was also gathered from the national oil company that over 48 million litres of crude oil had been supplied and scheduled for supply to the $20bn Lekki-based refinery by NNPC from December 2023 to October 2024.

NNPC officially commenced the loading of petrol from the 650,000 barrels per day capacity Dangote Petroleum Refinery on Sunday.

In a WhatsApp message to one of our correspondents confirming this and providing insight on the cost of the petrol from the Lagos-based refinery, Soneye said, “We successfully loaded PMS today (Sunday) at the Dangote refinery.

“The report stating that we (NNPC) purchased it at N1,300/litre is false. For this initial loading, the price was N898/litre. I can also confirm that we will receive 16.8 million litres. As of now, we have loaded over 70 trucks.”

However, Dangote refinery denied the price with Anthony Chiejina, Dangote Group’s Chief Branding and Communications Officer, labelling the claim as “misleading and mischievous,” stating that it undermined the company’s recent milestone in addressing Nigeria’s long-standing energy crisis.

According to Chiejina, the statement from NNPC was aimed at derailing the progress achieved towards alleviating energy insufficiency and insecurity, which had plagued the country for decades.

In a statement on Sunday, the Dangote official said, “Our attention has been drawn to a statement attributed to NNPC spokesperson, Mr Olufemi Soneye, that we sell our PMS at N898/litre to the NNPC.

“This statement is both misleading and mischievous, deliberately aimed at undermining the milestone achievement recorded today, September 15, 2024, towards addressing energy insufficiency and insecurity, which has bedevilled the economy in the past 50 years.

“We urge Nigerians to disregard this malicious statement and await a formal announcement on the pricing, by the Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales to local refineries, appointed by His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu GCFR, which will commence on October 1, 2024, bearing in mind that our current stock of crude was procured in dollars.”

Chiejina further clarified that the current stock of crude sold to NNPC was procured in dollars, with significant savings compared to existing import prices.

“With this action, there will be petrol in every Local Government Area of the country regardless of their remote nature.

“We assure Nigerians of the availability of quality petroleum products and putting an end to the endemic fuel scarcity in the country,” the statement added.

• Marketers Await Price

President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, said IPMAN members had yet to receive the price of the product from NNPC, the sole off-taker of petrol from Dangote.

“We are hearing of different prices, but we have not heard from NNPC directly on the amount that they would want to sell the product to us. Remember that NNPC is the sole off-taker of the petrol from Dangote refinery. So, we are still waiting to hear from them.”

But a major oil marketer said they got petrol from NNPC at N766/litre, stressing that some major PMS dealers would start loading the product allocated to them by NNPC from Dangote refinery beginning from Monday.

“When NNPC gives marketers allocation, they (marketers) will simply go to Dangote to pick up. The payment will be to NNPC, while NNPC in turn pays to Dangote,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, stated.

The official added, “NNPC sells to marketers at N766/litre, NNPC buys from Dangote at N898/litre. Marketers are supposed to mobilise their trucks to Dangote, pick up products, and then take them to their stations. The cost of transporting, fees, and other logistics will be borne by the marketers.”

It was gathered that the major marketers involved in this arrangement include Conoil, NIPCO, Total, Mobil, Oando (NNPC Retail), Adova and Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria members.

Credit: The Punch