Dangote Group Chairman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has reaffirmed his stance that his refinery has the capacity to meet the entire local demand for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also called gasoline.
He made the statement again on Friday at the Presidential Villa, shortly after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
There has been a cold war between the Dangote Refinery and certain players in the midstream and downstream sectors over a perceived shortfall in supply from the refinery.
Members of the Large Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), the Tank and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have also expressed concern over the supply gap to justify the need to import fuel.
But Dangote stated that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA) has official knowledge of the capacity of his refinery to produce 50 million liters of PMS available at retail outlets daily.
He told reporters that the era of fuel queues during the festive season was over.
He said: “If you look at it carefully, in Nigeria we have had fuel queues since 1972 and we have actually eliminated them. It is not about really relying on imports.”
“For the first time, we are suppliers to Europe and the US. Today we have written to NMDPRA, the midstream regulator, and confirmed that we can supply 50 million every day. And you know there will be no queues at all, because I can’t tell you anything right now, even while we are servicing the refineries, there are no queues, you know. So the issue of having queues is history. It will never, ever happen by the grace of God. no more. That’s number one.
“Number two. Even our neighboring countries will not have queues, you know, because they can buy from us, but official purchase. In February, we will be able to supply 15 to 20 million liters more than Nigeria’s consumption. So we still have to export.”
In addition, he revealed his intention to compete in the international market by exporting the product from his refinery.
“But going forward, what do we really want to do? What we are going to do by 2028, we are going to make this refinery the largest refinery in the world, we are going to overcome the dependency. The dependency is 1.25 million barrels per day, we will be at 1.4 million barrels per day. We have already launched what we have signed, and we are going to start accumulating for the refinery in January, before the end of January, and it will be delivered on time.”
Explaining the ugly trend of cross-border smuggling, he noted that Nigerian petroleum products remain very cheap compared to prices in neighboring West African states.
“Prices are going down. The reason prices have to go down is that we also have to compete with imports. But fortunately for us, now smuggling has reduced, not totally.
“There is still quite a bit of smuggling, you know, because the price we have in Nigeria is about 55% of the price of our neighboring countries. So no matter how the borders are policed, people will continue to smuggle because there is a lot of money to be made. You know, they sell for almost N1,500, N1,600, but we are selling for about N800 and something like that.”