Florence Sadiku
DANGOTE Petroleum Refinery has disclosed that it sold Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in dollars.
Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief Branding and Communications Office of Dangote Group disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
The NNPCL had earlier on Sunday revealed that it purchased fuel from the Dangote Refinery at a rate of N898 per litre.
However, the crude oil refiner insisted that the product was sold to NNPCL “with a lot of savings against what they are currently importing.”
Anthony Chiejina’s statement is hereunder reproduced.
“Our attention has been drawn to a statement attributed to NNPCL spokesperson, Mr Olufemi Soneye, that we sell our PMS at N898 per litre to the NNPCL.
“This statement is both misleading and mischievous, deliberately aimed at undermining the milestone achievement recorded today, 15 September 2024, towards addressing energy insufficiency and insecurity, which has bedevilled 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 His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, which will commence on 1 October 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 the availability of quality petroleum product and putting an end to the endemic fuel scarcity in the country.”
Eighteen-Eleven Media recalls that on Saturday, the company dispatched approximately 300 trucks to the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, which has a capacity of 650,000 barrels. Loading operations began the following day.
In a statement, Olufemi Soneye, Chief Spokesperson for the NNPCL, clarified the pricing of the premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol.
He stated, “We began loading PMS at the Dangote Refinery today. The previous claim of an N760 per litre price is inaccurate. For this initial loading, the price was set at N898 per litre.”
Soneye further noted that, as of the latest update, more than 70 trucks had been loaded.
Finance Minister Wale Edun had previously announced that NNPCL would exclusively handle the purchase of refined petrol from Dangote Refinery. At a recent Technical Sub-Committee meeting, which was attended by Zacch Adedeji, Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), it was detailed that diesel from the refinery would be available for purchase in Naira by any interested buyer, while PMS would be exclusively sold to NNPCL. NNPCL would then distribute the petrol to various marketers.
The Finance Minister also confirmed the finalization of agreements and procedures related to the Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) approval for the sale of crude oil to local refineries and the purchase of refined products in Naira. This initiative aims to alleviate pressure on the naira, cut down on transaction costs, and enhance the availability of petroleum products within Nigeria.
“We are pleased to announce that all agreements have been finalized, and the first batch of PMS from the Dangote Refinery will be loaded starting Sunday, September 15th. Beginning October 1st, NNPC will start supplying approximately 385,000 barrels per day of crude oil to the Dangote Refinery, to be paid in Naira,” Edun stated.
He added that the Dangote Refinery would provide PMS and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market, also to be paid in Naira. Diesel will be available for any interested buyer, while PMS will be sold exclusively to NNPC, which will handle distribution to marketers. All related regulatory fees will also be settled in Naira.
Eighteen-Eleven Media