Oil Marketers Seek Direct Deal with Dangote Refinery

Independent petroleum marketers in Nigeria are pushing for direct purchases from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, bypassing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).

Daily Report Nigeria reports that this move comes as the NNPC is currently the sole off-taker of Dangote’s Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, from the $20 billion Lekki-based refinery.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria are driving this initiative, adding that buying directly from the refinery is the optimal choice.

READ ALSO: Oil Marketers Predict Petrol Price Drop with Direct Supply from Dangote Refinery

IPMAN officials view the NNPC as a competitor and are seeking a meeting with Dangote Group’s President, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, or management representatives.

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In a recent briefing, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed that the deregulated petroleum market allows Dangote and NNPC to set prices based on market forces.

Onanuga stressed that the government will not intervene in the price dispute.

He said on Wednesday:

“It is the consumers who benefit if a price war starts. If NNPC fuel [price] is too much, the public market can go to the market and bring in their own fuel and sell at the price that they think is very reasonable and profitable for them. So, the government is not dabbling into this controversy.

“Dangote is running a private company working on his own, and NNPC is a limited liability company that has the right to fix the price of its own product.”