Petroleum product marketers in Nigeria have reportedly written to Bola Tinubu, expressing concerns that the reduction in diesel prices by Dangote Refinery to N900 per litre is negatively impacting their businesses.
This was revealed by Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, during a Twitter Spaces session hosted by Nairametrics.
“Petroleum product marketers in Nigeria have written to President Bola Tinubu to complain that the refinery local prices which have dropped from N1,200 to N1,000 and now N900 per litre are impacting their businesses negatively,” he said.
Edwin highlighted several challenges confronting the Dangote Refinery and its effect on Nigeria’s fuel supply and prices.
He noted that the refinery, situated in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos, faces difficulties in selling approximately 29 tankers of diesel per day due to low demand from local petroleum product importers.
“As a result of this poor local patronage, the refinery exports most of its diesel and aviation fuel,” he said.
Edwin previously stated that Dangote Refinery would export its products if the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and other petroleum distributors in the country chose not to patronize it.
“We have been exporting aviation fuel, we have been producing kerosene, we have been producing diesel, but yesterday, we started the production of PMS. So, that was the last stage. The only thing now left out is petrochemicals.”
“So, the good news for the country is we have started producing PMS from our refinery,” he had said on a radio programme.
When asked whether the petrol would be sold locally, Edwin responded, “I explained that there has been a sort of blockade preventing the distribution of our products within the country. Traders have been trying to obstruct it, so we’ve been exporting our petroleum products instead. However, we are prepared to supply as much PMS as needed domestically.”
“But if the traders or NNPC are not buying the product, obviously, we will end up exporting the PMS as we are doing with the aviation jet and diesel,” he declared.
Edwin expressed surprise that the company began encountering unexpected challenges as the refinery was about to begin operations. He reflected on the original philosophy of adding value to the country’s raw materials, lamenting that, even after more than three decades, Nigeria continues to export crude oil while importing refined petroleum products.
“The philosophy is to take the crude, and instead of exporting the crude, refine it, add value; export the finished products, and supply the finished products locally. But unfortunately for us, we started facing challenges with the crude supply.
“What is happening today? We are struggling to get the crude. We are now importing the crude from the US, we are importing from Brazil, and from other parts of the world. So, the whole philosophy has gone upside down. After all these decades, we are exporting crude, importing products,” he added.
“The same thing is continuing. We are not getting enough crude allocation, and the crude is still being exported. We are forced to import crude from outside. Yes, we are getting some crude locally, but it’s not adequate.”
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