Dangote Refinery is set to flood the Nigerian market with its Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) today, Sunday, a historic departure from the country’s years of dependence on fuel imports.
This comes as the $20 billion 650,000 barrels per day Lagos-based refinery petrol will be loaded into over 300 trucks belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on Sunday.
DAILY POST reports that the NNPCL spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye in a statement on Saturday said over 300 trucks have arrived at Dangote Refinery facility to load petrol, expected to kickstart on Sunday.
Recall that on September 3, 2024, the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote officially announced the rollout of Dangote Refinery’s petrol.
The Federal Government through the Minister of Finance Edun on Friday announced that all agreements have been reached with Dangote Refinery for NNPCL to offtake its petrol on Sunday.
Part of the agreement showed that NNPCL would supply Dangote Refinery with about 385,000 barrels per day of crude oil by October 1, 2024.
Dangote Refinery Petrol will bring fuel availability – IPMAN President, Maigandi
Speaking exclusively to DAILY POST on Saturday, the President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi said the kickoff of Dangote Petrol will end fuel supply hiccups in Nigeria.
Also, he believes that the development will lead to petrol price reduction in the coming days, however, noting that marketers are yet to know the Dangote Refinery’s price template.
“It is a welcome development. Instead of carrying Dollars to purchase the product outside now we are producing locally.
“The way things are going, the commencement of Dangote Refinery petrol will lead to Naira appreciation.
“The benefits- one we are expecting availability of the product and expected pump price reduction.
“In a nutshell, provided that we use Naira to purchase the petrol, we are expecting that the price will come down a little,” he said.
On why only NNPCL is offtaking the Dangote Refinery Petrol he said “If the government says this is how they want to commence loading Dangote Petrol for the start, it is fine.
“You know PMS is a sensitive material. Therefore, it is good for the government to start monitoring the way things are going to be”.
Concerning partnership with Dangote Refinery on direct petrol offtake, he said that, “Yes we have gotten a response from Dangote Refinery on partnership. We are looking in the next direction.
“Since Dangote Petrol commences distribution tomorrow (today), let’s see how the firm will start with NNPCL first.
“We can’t say the price of Dangote Refinery’s petrol now. When NNPCL starts loading on Sunday, we will know. We are sure that the product will be available. The price for now we are not sure what it will look like.
We’ll be happy to see Dangote Refinery’s petrol at cheaper prices – PETROAN President, Gillis-Harry
Also, the President of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association, PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry said marketers across the country would be happy if the price of Dangote Refinery’s petrol was cheaper.
He, however, said that it would be better if marketers lifted Dangote Refinery’s petrol directly.
Gillis-Harry expressed concern over the lack of clarity on Dangote Refinery’s Petrol pricing and the rate to sell to marketers.
He said, “Well, we are happy to lift directly with Dangote Refinery. As I said, we cannot be doing business with an organization if it is not communicating with us. If that continues, we might allow them to do what they want to do.
“We have written to them and we have been communicating but suddenly that stopped. We are only hearing from side-talks, and this doesn’t clarify. We are open that at some point communication will be made.
“We heard rumors that an insider gave a price hint and we said that is where we have a problem.
“We cannot be dealing with business clandestinely. Let the industry know what is going on. This product is made in Nigeria and produced by Dangote.
“We are very proud of that. So let Nigerians start to have it in their cars at an affordable price. We already have petrol at N870 per liter price from NNPCL. If we can see that product cheaper, why not, we will be happy to see that.”
When asked the price of Dangote Refinery Petrol he said, “We only have surreptitious information. We are getting surreptitious information on it. That is not what we need to do.
“I have been speaking to all my other colleagues, IPMAN, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, DAPPMAN, and Major Energies Marterkers Association of Nigeria, MEMAN, but we have not gotten any information.
“At this point, we should know straight away the pricing, and the rate to sell to marketers”, he said.
Meanwhile, sources familiar with the development had hinted that Dangote Refinery may benchmark its petrol price around N766 per liter.
Stakeholders upbeat about cheaper price as Dangote Refinery petrol flood markets