The Dangote Refinery has clarified that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited is yet to commence the lifting of petrol from its facility, as negotiations between the two entities are still ongoing.
The Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer of Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, made this known in a statement on Thursday, debunking reports that NNPC had already begun lifting Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the refinery.
Chiejina explained, “We would like to state that NNPC has not commenced lifting of refined Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol, from our Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Therefore, the issue of fixing the price of petrol lifted from our refinery does not arise, as we are yet to finalize our contract with NNPC.”
He emphasized that the pricing of petrol is beyond the control of the Dangote Refinery, as the sector is regulated by the relevant authorities.
“The PMS market is strictly regulated, which is known to all oil marketers and stakeholders in the sector.
Hence, we cannot determine, fix, or influence the product price, which falls under the purview of relevant government authorities,” Chiejina stated.
He urged the public to disregard the media reports suggesting that NNPC had begun lifting petrol from the refinery, describing the reports as misleading.
“We are guaranteeing Nigerians of exceptionally high-quality petroleum products that will be readily available all over the country,” he added.
In a related development, NNPC Limited disclosed that over 17.6 million barrels of crude oil are expected to be delivered to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery between September and October as part of the government’s push to boost local production of petroleum products.
Speaking during a national television programme on Thursday, NNPC’s Executive Vice-President of Downstream, Adedapo Segun, said, “We have supplied about 30 million barrels to Dangote so far. Six-point-three million this month, and we will supply 11.3 million in October.”
