The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has finally stopped the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to major marketers importing petroleum products into Nigeria.
An official of the refinery confirmed this to our correspondent, saying the refinery would no longer sell petrol to those blending Dangote fuel with imported grades.
“We are not selling petrol to those who are importing, since they are trying to blend our high-quality products with their ultra-low-quality imported products,” the source said, pleading for anonymity because he was not permitted to speak with the press.
Another source told our correspondent that the refinery now prefers to sell its petrol to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and others not known for importing. “We are selling to independent marketers and others who are not importing,” he stated.
It was learnt that the development informed why some marketers went to court to get an order that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority should continue to grant them import licences.
The marketers feared that they might be left stranded if they could not import fuel at a time when the Dangote refinery had halted petrol sales to them. Dangote had earlier threatened to stop transacting business with fuel importers, whom it accused of blending its Euro-5 petrol grade with imported grades.
It is concerned that such practices could make it difficult to distinguish between products supplied directly by the refinery and products subsequently blended or handled by third parties.
