The Dangote Refinery says the entrance of its diesel into the market from April 2024 crashed the market price from N1,600 to N1,000 per liter.
Although the product presently goes for a little above N1,000, the refinery said the price crash, representing over 30 percent of the previous market price, is expected to positively affect all spheres of the economy and ultimately reduce the high inflation rate in the country.
Dangote Group Chief Commercial Officer, Rabiu A. Umar, stated this on Friday in Kano at a media chat. Umar said that since the commencement of operations of the refinery, apart from the Nigerian market, its products have been exported to neighboring African countries, Europe, and the United States.
“As I speak with you right now, we have been refining Jet-A 1, which is aviation fuel, and diesel with the expectation to roll out petrol next month,” Umar said.
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This is in response to the recent comment by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, that the quality of the refinery product is inferior to imported products.
“Dangote Refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage. It has not been licensed yet,” Ahmed said. “We have not licensed them yet.”
Reacting to this comment, the Dangote Group Chief Commercial Officer denied the claims, saying it was a total demarketing of the organization.
“Regarding diesel quality, we started with 600-700 PPM because it was a new plant. Now, our production is at 87 PPM, and by the end of August, it will be at 10 PPM.”
According to him, none of the imported diesel in Nigeria can compete with the Dangote refinery in terms of quality, and this can be confirmed by any expert who intends to test our products and those imported independently.
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“The airplanes using our product have never once complained, talk less of the countries buying them in Europe and the United States where they don’t compromise standards.”
Also, on the issue of the refinery not yet being licensed, Rabiu Umar noted that documents and facts do not lie, adding that all necessary procedures have been complied with before the refinery started operations.
“Anybody can cross-check our papers; we are licensed by the authorities to commence operations.”
“NNPCL equity in our refinery now stands at 7.5% against 20%.”
Speaking on the NNPCL equity in the Dangote Refinery, Umar said initially 20% equity was allotted to the NNPCL with some obligations expected to be met.
“However, the NNPCL has not been able to meet those obligations, which reduced the equity to 7.5%,” Umar noted.
He described the Dangote Refinery as a Nigerian and African pride that should not be allowed to die.
