Dangote Refinery has announced its petrol prices, stating it sells at N990 per litre for trucks and N960 per litre for ships.
This disclosure comes in response to claims by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), who asserted that they are able to import petrol at lower rates than those set by Dangote.
In an earlier interview, the marketers claimed they could buy petrol at cheaper rates abroad, urging Dangote Refinery to engage with stakeholders on this issue. However, the refinery countered these claims, arguing that only substandard products could be imported at cheaper prices.
In a statement released Sunday night and signed by the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, Dangote Refinery emphasized that it adheres to the pricing benchmarks established by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and even offers lower prices for sales into ships.
The statement read, “Both organisations claim that they can import PMS at lower prices than what is being sold by the Dangote Refinery. We benchmark our prices against international prices and we believe our prices are competitive relative to the price of imports.”
Chiejina further stated, “If anyone claims they can land PMS at a price cheaper than what we are selling, then they are importing substandard products and conniving with international traders to dump low-quality products into the country, without concern for the health of Nigerians or the longevity of their vehicles. Unfortunately, the regulator (NMDPRA) does not even have laboratory facilities which can be used to detect substandard products when imported into the country.”
The refinery highlighted that following deregulation, NNPC had set the price for domestic marketers at N971 per litre for sales into ships and N990 for trucks, establishing the benchmark for pricing.
“Post deregulation, NNPC set the pace by selling PMS to domestic marketers at N971 per litre for sale into ships and at N990 for sale into trucks. This set the benchmark for our pricing and we have even gone lower to sell at N960 per litre for sale into ships while maintaining N990 per litre for sale into trucks.”
The statement also indicated that Dangote began sales at these prices without clarity on the exchange rate for crude purchased, stating, “In good faith, and in the interest of the country, we commenced sales at these prices without clarity on the exchange rate that we will use to pay for the crude purchased.”
Furthermore, the refinery raised concerns about an international trading company that has recently rented a depot facility next to Dangote Refinery for blending substandard products, warning that this could undermine the quality of products in the market.
“At the same time, an international trading company has recently hired a depot facility next to the Dangote Refinery, to use it to blend substandard products that will be dumped into the market to compete with Dangote Refinery’s higher quality production. This is detrimental to the growth of domestic refining in Nigeria.”
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Chiejina also pointed out that many countries protect their domestic industries to support economic growth, stating, “We should point out that it is not unusual for countries to protect their domestic industries to provide jobs and grow the economy. For example, the US and Europe have had to impose high tariffs on EVs and microchips to protect their domestic industries.”
Despite expectations that the “crude-for-Naira” deal between the federal government and Dangote Refinery would lower pump prices starting October 1, 2024, the refinery’s pricing indicates otherwise.
Based on the independent marketers calculations, Dangote pegged petrol is sold at N1,014.75 per litre price. Although the petrol is N990 per litre, however, with an additional variation cost of 2.5 percent, which amounts to N24.75 per litre, thus resulting to the N1,014.75 per litre.
As the debate over petrol pricing continues, Dangote Refinery maintains its commitment to providing affordable and high-quality domestically refined petroleum products in Nigeria, urging the public to disregard misinformation from those who prefer to continue importing rather than supporting local industry.
