Dangote Refinery has disclosed that it sells petrol at N990 per litre for trucks and N960 per litre for ships.
This announcement follows claims from the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), stating they can import petrol at lower rates than Dangote’s prices.
In response, the refinery argued that only substandard products could be imported at cheaper rates than its high-quality petrol. According to a statement released Sunday night by the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, Dangote Refinery emphasized that its prices align with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) benchmark but are competitively lower for sales into ships.
“Both organisations claim that they can import PMS at lower prices than what is being sold by the Dangote Refinery. We benchmark our prices against international prices and we believe our prices are competitive relative to the price of imports,” the statement read. “If anyone claims they can land PMS at a price cheaper than what we are selling, then they are importing substandard products and conniving with international traders to dump low-quality products into the country, without concern for the health of Nigerians or the longevity of their vehicles.”
The refinery further criticised the lack of regulatory oversight on imported products, adding, “Unfortunately, the regulator (NMDPRA) does not even have laboratory facilities which can be used to detect substandard products when imported into the country.”
In clarifying its pricing approach, Dangote Refinery noted, “Post deregulation, NNPC set the pace by selling PMS to domestic marketers at N971 per litre for sale into ships and at N990 for sale into trucks. This set the benchmark for our pricing and we have even gone lower to sell at N960 per litre for sale into ships while maintaining N990 per litre for sale into trucks.”
Chiejina also revealed that despite uncertainties about the exchange rate used for crude purchases, Dangote Refinery began sales “in good faith and in the interest of the interest of the nation, we commenced sales at these prices despite uncertainty around the exchange rate for crude purchases,” the statement continued.
The Dangote spokesperson also stressed the importance of protecting local industries, a practice adopted by other countries to boost their economies.
