The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has questioned the rationale behind the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) selling petrol sourced from the Dangote Refinery at a higher price than imported fuel.
John Kekeocha, IPMAN’s National Welfare Officer, expressed his concerns on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, saying, “If NNPC can sell Dangote products higher than the imported products, then it doesn’t make sense. What is the celebration we are having all these while then?”
NNPCL began loading its first batch of petrol from the Dangote Refinery on Sunday, stating it procured the fuel at N898 per litre.
Prior to this, NNPCL outlets in Lagos were selling petrol at around N855 per litre, but with the Dangote supply, prices in Lagos have risen to N950 per litre, and in Borno, to N1,019 per litre.
In response, Dangote Refinery denied the N898 price, with its spokesperson Anthony Chiejina calling the NNPCL’s claim “misleading and mischievous.”
“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,” he further added.
Despite Dangote’s denial, NNPCL maintained its stance and challenged the refinery to publicly disclose the price at which it sold the petrol.
The state-owned oil company further provided a detailed breakdown of pricing across its retail stations.
Dangote’s $20 billion refinery in Lagos, which commenced operations in December 2023, is currently operating at 350,000 barrels per day, with plans to reach its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year.
The refinery has already begun supplying diesel and aviation fuel to marketers and has now added petrol to its product line.
