The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, and Dangote Refinery yesterday disagreed over the pricing of the petrol to be supplied by the refinery.
The disagreement came against the backdrop of the first lifting of the product from the refinery by NNPCL yesterday.
Although NNPCL got the first supply at N898 per litre, Dangote said the price was not reflective of any agreement on the pricing of its product.
Dangote argued that it sold the initial supplies for N898 per litre because the crude was imported for refining, hence it was selling at dollar equivalence.
In a statement by Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Dangote described the claims by NNPCL that it got the product for N898 per litre as “misleading and mischievous”.
Mr. Olufemi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Limited, was earlier reported to have said it bought the product at N898 per litre, in contradiction to reports that it was sold to it N766 per litre.“Clarifying this, Dangote said: “Our attention has been drawn to a statement attributed to NNPCL spokesperson, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, that we sell our PMS at N898 per f to the NNPCL.““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 bedeviled 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 President Bola Ahmed Tinubu which will commence on October 1, 2024, bearing in mind that our current stock of crude was procured in dollars.““It should also be noted that we sold the products to NNPCL in dollars with a lot of savings against what they are currently importing. With this action, there will be petrol in every“local government area of the country regardless of their remote nature.““We assure Nigerians of availability of quality petroleum product and putting an end to the“endemic fuel scarcity in the country.”
Meanwhile, there were indications yesterday that Nigeria’s fuel shortage may linger due to a 38.8per cent shortfall in the first delivery of premium motor spirit, PMS, from Dangote Refinery to the NNPCL.
This is because the 650,000 barrels per day, bpd, refinery was scheduled to deliver 25 million litres of petrol to NNPCL but could only deliver 16.8 million litres for now.
Recalled that the Nigeria’s Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had said that Nigeria’s domestic petrol consumption has dropped by 33.58 per cent to 44.3 million litres per day, from 66.7 million litres per day.
This indicates that the 16.8 million litres would be grossly inadequate for domestic consumption.
In a letter communicating the shortfall to the NNPCL, Dangote refinery, stated: “This is to formally notify you of the release of Twelve Thousand, Two hundred Metric Tons (12,200 MT) of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from Tank No.3201D at Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju Lekki to Messrs. NNPC Trading Limited to be loaded via road trucks.”
To facilitate distribution, the NNPCL has mobilized over 300 trucks to transport the fuel from the refinery and also berthed a vessel for same.
It was gathered that the NNPCL had issued a Letter of Credit (LC Ref SBLCxxxxT0083) for over $120 million to cover the initial supply of 25 million litres before being informed by the Dangote refinery that it won’t be able to deliver as planned.
Vanguard has learned that the price of PMS from the Dangote Refinery for this initial loading is at N898 per liter.
The fuel lifting is part of a “naira for crude” arrangement, whereby crude oil is sold to local refineries and petroleum products are purchased in naira.
Vanguard
