The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is set to roll out the sale of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol, The PUNCH is reporting.
This is coming a few days after the 650,000-capacity refinery engaged in a test-run of the product.
Industry sources confirmed to our correspondent that the product would hit the market soon.
The sources, who pleaded anonymity, said that the government and the Dangote Group were working out modalities for the circulation of the product.
A government source hinted that the sale and distribution of the PMS is being sorted out with the Federal Government.
The source added that only the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited would be authorised to sell the Dangote fuel at the moment.
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Recall that petrol from the Dangote refinery was supposed to have been out since June, but the refinery battled crude shortage and entered into a public dispute with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, which accused the refinery of producing substandard diesel.
The intervention of the Federal Government that crude oil should be supplied to the refinery in the local currency seems to be yielding the desired result.
Dangote and other local refineries had repeatedly accused international oil companies of not selling crude to the local refiners.
Recently, the Federal Government announced that the crude oil supply deal would commence in October.
The management of Dangote Group also alleged that the IOCs insisted on selling crude oil to its refinery through their foreign agents, saying the local price of crude would continue to increase because the trading arms offered cargoes at $2 to $4 per barrel, above NUPRC official price.
The group also alleged that the foreign oil producers seem to be prioritising Asian countries in selling the crude they produce in Nigeria.
Dangote refinery had engaged in an exchange of words with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission over the alleged supply of 29 million barrels of crude oil to the refinery.
The Dangote Group had accused the NUPRC of failing to effectively enforce the Domestic Crude Supply Obligations regulations, saying the refinery had yet to get enough crude locally.
Reacting, the NUPRC debunked the claim, stating that it facilitated the supply of over 29 million barrels of crude oil to Dangote from January to June 2024.
The NUPRC argued that it had facilitated the domestic supply of crude oil to Dangote refinery and other refineries using the monthly production curtailment platform.
But in a swift response, the Dangote Group also denied receiving 29 million barrels of crude from any source.
Spokesperson of the Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, said, “We received NUPRC’s statement that they have facilitated the allocation of 29 million barrels of crude oil to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, we would like to thank them for this allocation but at the same time, we wish to let them know that we are yet to receive these cargoes.
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“Aside from the term supply we bilaterally negotiated with NNPCL, so far NUPRC has only facilitated the purchase of one crude cargo from a domestic producer. The rest of the cargoes we have processed were purchased from international traders.”
Chiejina added that all the refinery was asking for was for refineries in Nigeria to buy crude directly from the companies that produce it in Nigeria rather than from international middlemen.
The issue of pricing remains unresolved as there are no clear indications if locally produced petrol will be subsidised to keep prices at current levels.
The entry of Dangote petrol into the market will ease the current shortages due to the refusal of traders to sell cargoes to the NNPC until part of the company’s estimated $6 billion is cleared.
