Petrol Marketers Complained That Our Refinery’s Diesel Price is too Cheap – Dangote

Petroleum marketers in Nigeria have raised concerns about the declining price of diesel from the Dangote Refinery, claiming it negatively impacts their businesses. The marketers have reportedly written to President Bola Tinubu, stating that the reduction in diesel prices from N1,200 to N1,000, and now N900 per liter, has created difficulties for them.

Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, disclosed this during a Twitter Spaces session hosted by Nairametrics. He highlighted the challenges facing Dangote Refinery, particularly in terms of low local patronage from Nigerian petroleum product importers. Despite the refinery producing 29 tankers of diesel daily, most of the product is exported due to insufficient domestic demand.

As a result, Dangote Refinery has turned to exporting most of its diesel and aviation fuel, which was initially intended for the local market. Edwin had earlier mentioned that if local petroleum dealers, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), continue to resist buying from the refinery, more of the refinery’s products, including petrol, would be exported.

Edwin expressed disappointment that the refinery, located in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos, is now importing crude from countries like the US and Brazil due to challenges in securing enough local crude. The refinery, which has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, began exporting naphtha in March, low-sulphur straight-run fuel oil in May, and started selling diesel and jet fuel domestically in April. However, with local demand struggling, the refinery has also been exporting diesel that meets European specifications since June.

Edwin reflected on the initial goal of the refinery, which was to add value to Nigeria’s crude resources by refining locally and reducing the country’s dependency on importing refined petroleum products. However, the current situation has complicated these plans, forcing the refinery to import crude while Nigeria continues to export crude and import refined products.