The Dangote Refinery has clarified that it sold Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in dollars.
This clarification was made on Sunday in a statement by Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer of Dangote.
The statement was issued in response to a claim by NNPCL that the refinery sold fuel to them at ₦898 per litre. The Chief Spokesperson of NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, had earlier informed by our source that the company had successfully loaded PMS from the Dangote Refinery at ₦898 per litre, not the ₦760 figure being speculated.
Soneye also mentioned that over 70 trucks had been loaded, housingtv reported that about 300 trucks had been moved to the 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity refinery in Lagos over the weekend, with loading commencing on Sunday.
READ ALSO: NNPC Deploys 300 Trucks to Dangote Refinery Ahead of Petrol Loading
Dangote’s Response
In its statement, Dangote Refinery described NNPCL’s claim as “misleading and mischievous,” stating that the announcement aimed to undermine the achievement of starting production at the refinery on September 15, 2024. The refinery highlighted that the milestone was a crucial step towards addressing Nigeria’s long-standing energy challenges.
“We urge Nigerians to disregard this malicious statement and await a formal announcement on 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,” the statement read.
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Dangote further clarified that its current stock of crude was purchased in dollars, which is why the transaction with NNPCL was dollar-based. The refinery emphasized that this sale offered significant savings compared to what NNPCL pays for imported fuel.
“We assure Nigerians that with this action, there will be a steady supply of petrol across all local government areas in the country, putting an end to the persistent fuel shortages,” the statement concluded.
