The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has said that the Dangote Refinery and any other local refinery can sell directly to marketers on a willing buyer, willing seller terms.

The national oil firm disclosed that it is the practice for deregulated products, stating that it has no plan of becoming the sole distributor for any entity in a free market.

Therefore, the notion of a sole off-taker for Dangote Refinery does not arise.

The company’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, disclosed this as he responded to a Muslim group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), which said that the Dangote Refinery Limited (DRL) is being undermined by the actions of the NNP.

Soneye said that MURIC said that recent changes to fuel pump prices would prevent the Dangote Refinery from offering lower petrol prices to Nigerians as the NNPC became the sole buyer of all products from the refinery.

According to the NNPC, it will only fully offtake petrol from the Dangote refinery if market prices are higher than pump prices in Nigeria, stating that Dangote and any other refinery are free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis.

The statement reads: “NNPC Ltd has no desire or intention to become the distributor for any entity in a free market environment; therefore, the notion of becoming a sole off-taker does not arise.

“The NNPC Ltd cannot undermine a business with a billion-dollar stake. As an advocacy group for fair and just treatment, MURIC should have verified the facts before making statements that are entirely flawed and have the potential to incite ordinary Nigerians against the NNPC Ltd.”

Dangote Refinery produces new petrol-grade

This development comes as Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Industries Limited, has said that with the rollout of the PMS from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Nigerians will understand the country's fuel consumption for the first time.

The petrol production from the 650,000bpd-capacity refinery comes 28 years after Africa’s largest oil producer stopped PMS production from its three moribund refineries.