By Frank Ulom
LAGOS (CONVERSEER) – The Dangote Refinery has responded strongly to recent claims by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) regarding the cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, in the Nigerian market.
According to a statement from Anthony Chiejina, the Group’s Chief Branding and Communications Officer, on Sunday, the refinery insists that its prices are competitive and aligned with international benchmarks, countering accusations from IPMAN and PETROAN that PMS imports could be sold at lower prices.
In the statement, Chiejina accused IPMAN, PETROAN, and other industry associations of spreading “misinformation.” He argued that if any organisation claims it can land PMS in Nigeria at a cheaper price than that offered by Dangote Refinery, they are likely cutting costs by importing lower-quality fuel.
“They are conniving with international traders to dump low-quality products into the country, disregarding the health of Nigerians and the durability of their vehicles,” he said.
The refinery further criticised Nigeria’s regulatory body, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), stating that the agency lacks the necessary laboratory facilities to detect substandard imported fuel. This, the statement claimed, opens the door for potentially hazardous fuel to enter the domestic market.
Since the deregulation of the petroleum sector, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) set an initial benchmark price of PMS at N971 per litre for sales to ships and N990 per litre for trucks.
The Dangote Refinery has since reduced the ship sales price to N960 per litre while maintaining the N990 per litre rate for truck deliveries. Chiejina noted that the refinery began sales at these prices “in good faith,” even without a clear exchange rate for paying for the crude oil used in production.
The statement also highlighted concerns over a recent move by an international trading company, which has reportedly set up a depot near the Dangote Refinery. The company allegedly intends to use this facility to blend lower-quality fuel products to compete with Dangote’s domestically refined, higher-quality fuel.
Chiejina argued that such practices are harmful to the growth of Nigeria’s refining industry and domestic economy, and compared Nigeria’s situation to other nations, such as the U.S. and Europe, which have imposed tariffs on imports to protect local industries. “It is not unusual for countries to protect their domestic industries in order to provide jobs and grow the economy,” he added.
The statement concluded with a call for the Nigerian public to ignore what it described as a “deliberate disinformation campaign” by individuals and groups who are opposed to domestic refining.
“We remain determined to provide affordable, good-quality, domestically refined petroleum products for Nigeria,” Chiejina stated, encouraging Nigerians to reject narratives that favour “exporting jobs and importing poverty.”
As the issue continues to develop, the refinery’s position underscores its commitment to strengthening domestic refining capacity while defending its pricing strategy against import-based competitors.