The Dangote Petroleum Refinery says it has not received authorization from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to supply Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
It announced this on Thursday as oil dealers under the aegis of the Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria demanded the refinery to release its PMS price, stressing that its silence on this matter had dragged on for so long.
On Wednesday, IPMAN’s National President, Abubakar Maigandi, said his members had gone to the Lekki-based refinery but could not lift petrol for almost four days.
Maigandi was reacting to Tuesday’s comment by the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, that the facility has over 500 million litres of petrol but marketers were nowhere to be found.
Maigandi had said, “If the refinery truly has 500 million litres, then there should be no reason our members couldn’t load after four days. We’re willing to buy the product directly if the refinery is ready to sell to us, but for now, our members can’t access it even after paying.”
The National President of PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, corroborated the position of his IPMAN counterpart, stressing that petrol retailers had approached the refinery on the need to load products but this never worked.
“We have listened to him (Dangote) and as far as I’m concerned what he said is very strange to my hearing. PETROAN had written to him since 2022, we wanted to have a business meeting with him and understand the business dynamics but no way up till now,” Gillis-Harry told newsmen.
However, in a Thursday statement by the Dangote Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, the company denied receiving money from IPMAN, saying the IPMAN members’ money was paid to NNPC which did not authorize Dangote to sell to the independent marketers.
The refinery said it has no direct dealings with IPMAN yet, though talks are ongoing as regards that.
The statement titled, ‘IPMAN: Setting the Record Straight’, read partly, “The Dangote Petroleum Refinery wishes to clarify that it has not received any payments from the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria to purchase refined petroleum products.
“Although discussions are ongoing with IPMAN, it is misleading to suggest that they (IPMAN members) are experiencing difficulties loading refined products from our petroleum refinery, as we currently have no direct business dealings with them. Consequently, we cannot be held responsible for any payments made to other entities.
“The payment in mention has been made through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, and not us. In the same vein, NNPCL has neither approved nor authorized us to release our Premium Motor Spirit to IPMAN.”
Speaking further, Chiejina emphasized that the Dangote refinery has capacity to meet the nation’s fuel demand with the ability to load 2,900 trucks per day.
“We would like to emphasize that we can meet the nation’s demand for all petroleum products, including petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel. At present, we can load 2,900 trucks per day and we have also been evacuating petroleum products by sea.
“We advise IPMAN to register with us and make direct payment as we have more than enough petroleum products to satisfy the needs of their members,“ the company stated.
It further advised stakeholders to refrain from making what it called unfounded statements in the media.
“Furthermore, we believe it is instructive for all stakeholders to refrain from making unfounded statements in the media, as that could undermine the economic re-engineering efforts of President Bola Tinubu. Conducting business through public speculation is counterproductive and unpatriotic.
“In the interest of our country, we encourage all stakeholders to collaborate and heed the advice of President Tinubu, while promoting a unified approach, rather than engaging in media conflicts and needless propaganda,“ the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, the National Headquarters of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association has asked Dangote to announce the price of its PMS.
PETROAN said it was taken aback by the speech of Aliko Dangote that the refinery has the capacity to provide enough petrol to satisfy local consumption, adding that about 500 million litres.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Joseph Obele, on Thursday, PETROAN said Dangote’s comment that marketers should come and pick fuel is not enough to trigger a purchase decision.
He said NNPC Retail is selling at N1,040 per litre in Port Harcourt, stressing that the energy that the CEO of Dangote refinery used in saying marketers were not buying from him, such energy could have been used to announce the price of Dangote petrol.
“If he had announced a favourable or attractive selling rate at that press conference, such an announcement could have caused traffic at his facility by this hour. A businessman will abandon his previous buying source for a new location with the least discount granted by another seller,“ Obele stressed.
This came as the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria announced on Thursday that there was enough petrol to sell to Nigerians, warning against panic buying.
The Chief Executive Officer of MEMAN, Clement Isong, said, “In light of several inquiries from the press regarding a perceived tightness in the petroleum supply market, MEMAN wishes to assure the general public and all stakeholders that we have significant stocks of products in our tanks and/or access to significant stocks of products in the tanks of our suppliers (including Dangote Refinery and NNPC Trading Limited), and a clear line of sight on future supplies for all petroleum products.”
Isong, who disclosed this in a statement, noted that the deregulation of the downstream oil sector now allows diligent marketers to plan and book in advance for their supply needs to avoid running out of stock.
According to him, MEMAN does not envisage any scarcity now or shortly.
“We urge the public not to panic-buy petroleum products, as our supply efficiency continues to improve, and logistics optimisation begins to set in,” Isonog said.
Also on Thursday, another set of data from MEMAN showed that the landing cost of petrol was N978.01/litre as of October 31, 2024.
It stated that the landing cost of diesel was N1,069.97/litre, while that of aviation fuel was put at N1,119.67/litre.
The landing cost of these white products is the unit price of the imported commodities on landing at Nigeria’s shores.
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