*Anthony Chiejina, Chief Branding and Communications Officer at Dangote Industries Limited, dismisses allegations of substandard quality of its petroleum products as false and misleading to tarnish the company鈥檚 reputation, asserting that diesel from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is 80 percent superior to other brands being imported from foreign countries into Nigeria

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

In reaction to recent “official” brickbats between Dangote Petroleum Refinery and ‘The Authority’, as well as subsequent media reports on allegation of substandard quality of petroleum products, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) has condemned an online report criticising the quality of its products.

Dangote Group, in a statement issued Friday, July 19, 2024, rather asserted that its refined diesel is 80 percent superior to those currently imported from foreign countries into Nigeria.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari (middle), Aliko Dangote (4th left), and Other Dignitaries at the Commissioning of Dangote Petroleum Refinery May 2023, at Ibeju-Lekki, in Lagos State

Mr. Anthony Chiejina, Chief Branding and Communications Officer at DIL, pointedly described media reports of the company’s purported production of high-sulfur diesel as 鈥渕ischievous and aimed at tarnishing our reputation.鈥�

绿帽献妻 checks revealed several Nigerian consumers still believe the Dangote Petroleum Refinery peradventure stirred a hornet’s nest recently, when the company responsively accused the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) of issuing fuel importation licences to all manner of oil marketers, thereby bringing into the country low-quality petroleum products.

Dangote also accused the International Oil Companies (IOCs) of frustrating its oil refinery in securing the need crude oil to sustain production domestically.

Speaking on the issue during a recent tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery by select media executives, Devakumar Edwin, Vice-President, Oil and Gas, at Dangote Industries Limited, again, accused the IOCs of making it difficult for the company to access local crude oil, forcing them to use their expensive arms (middlemen) and pay inflated prices.

Edwin as well claimed that while only a local producer, Sapetro, sells directly to Dangote Group while others rely on non-Nigerian trading arms that add unnecessary costs to their operations.

Also, the Management of Dangote Oil Refinery, June this year, accused the NMDPRA of aiding the importation of 鈥渄irty鈥� diesel and jet fuel into the West African country.

Despite Dangote鈥檚 effort to meet Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) standards, The Authority (NMDPRA) rather has continued to give licences to oil traders to import high-sulfur petrol from Russia into Nigeria, stated Edwin.

He explained that since the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) have issued a cap on Russia鈥檚 petroleum products, such 鈥渄irty鈥� petroleum products are now dumped in the country鈥檚 market by various fuel traders.

37 percent reduction in diesel price a patriotic act, says Chiejina

Chiejina, Spokesman of Dangote Group in the statement Friday, nonetheless, said the allegation of inferior quality of petroleum products from its refinery was false, baseless, and mischievous.

According to him, Dangote Refinery was designed to produce top-quality petroleum products that meet strict international standards.

The company鈥檚 Chief Brand and Communications Officer further stated: “The false and misleading allegations made by some media outlets that the Dangote Refinery is producing substandard diesel, which is why it reduced the price by 37 percent, is baseless and mischievous.

鈥淯ntil late last year, diesel imports into Nigeria were up to 7,000 parts per million (ppm) of Sulphur which has been going on for many years.”

Oil tankers loading petroleum products at the loading bay of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, in Lagos

He also explained: “Our diesel is produced currently at significantly lower levels of Sulphur; as such, we find baseless the allegation that the reason for the reduction is linked to quality.

“What we are producing is 80% of what is being imported into the country.”

The DIL Spokesman stated: 鈥淎nother inaccurate assertion is that Medium Level Sulphur diesel is meant for off-road use.

“This is a completely false statement as this would have invariably meant that all the imports for the last 20 years have been damaging equipment.”

He as well said: 鈥淭hirdly, diesel imports for the high Sulphur grade have been at significantly higher prices until we started operations.

“If, indeed, high Sulphur diesel is sold at lower prices how come we never saw the lower prices until now?鈥�

Chiejina affirmed that the rationale behind the Dangote diesel price reduction was fundamentally due to the company’s act of patriotism to the country, as well as prevailing market dynamics of supply and demand.

It is recalled that the company, within weekks of comenncement of productiion this year had said in a statement that the further diesel price reduction aligns with its commitment to cushioning the effect of economic hardship in Nigeria.

鈥淚 can confirm to you that Dangote Petroleum Refinery has entered a strategic partnership with MRS Oil and Gas stations to ensure that consumers get to buy fuel at an affordable price in all their stations, be it Lagos or Maiduguri. You can buy as low as 1 litre of diesel at 鈧�1,050 and aviation fuel at 鈧�980 at all major airports where MRS operates,鈥� Chiejina had said in a statement.

He further stated that the partnership would be extended to other major oil marketers with a view to ensuring that retail buyers do not buy at exorbitant prices.

He also noted: “鈥淭he Dangote Group is committed to ensuring that Nigerians have better welfare and as such, we are happy to announce these new prices and hope that it would go a long way to cushion the effect of economic challenges in the country.”

The Management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery announced a further reduction of the price of diesel from N1,200 to 1,000 per litre barely two weeks earlier at the time.

This marks the third major reduction in diesel price in less than three weeks when the product sold at 鈧�1,700 to 鈧�1,200 and a further reduction to 鈧�1,000 and now 鈧�940 for diesel and 鈧�980 for aviation fuel per litre.

In his remarks on the company’s market pricing approach, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu also commended Alhaji Dangote for the initial price reduction, describing it as an enterprising feat, according to report.

Likewsie, Mr. Ajayi Kadiri, Director General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), said that the decision of Dangote Petroleum Refinery to first crash the price from about 鈧�1,750/litre to 鈧�1,200/litre, 鈧�1,000/litre, and later 鈧�940, was an eloquent demonstration of the capacity of the local industries to impact the Nigerian economy positively.

Dangote’s requests from 鈥楾he Authority鈥� aimed at attaining market monopoly: NMDPRA Chief alleges

However, in reaction to Dangote’s flurry of allegations against the industry regulator and IOCs, Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NMDPRA, reportedly refuted them all.

Ahmed purported that Dangote Petroleum Refinery has “requested that we stop all importation of petroleum products, particularly automotive gas oil (AGO) and jet kero, and direct all marketers to their refinery.”

He equally raised concerns about the quality of petroleum products produced by Dangote refinery, as he declared that their quality is inferior to imported products from other economies.

The NMDPRA Chief Executive, who said this while addressing reporters after a meeting Friday, July 19, 2024, in the State House, Abuja, FCT, further alleged: 鈥淐urrently, the quality of AGO in terms of sulfur is the lowest, meeting the West African requirement of 50 ppm.

“However, Dangote Refinery, along with other major refineries like Walter Smith鈥檚 refinery, produces 650 to 1,200 ppm. So, their quality is much inferior to the imported commodities.鈥�

According to him, Dangote Refinery鈥檚 request to halt all importation of petroleum products would lead to 鈥渁 monopoly鈥�, which could negatively impact Nigeria鈥檚 energy security.

Ahmed: Dangote Petroleum Refinery at 45 percent completion, still in pre-commissioning stage

Nigerians have described as somewhat an afterthought, sheer politicking, regulatory mediocrity, or outright mischief against the company, aside from the allegation of low quality diesel after the landmark 鈥渙fficial鈥� commissioning of the multibillion Dollar oil refinery project amid jubilations by industry stakeholders for commencement of operations 2023.

Ahmed again, while speaking with the State House Correspondents, in Abuja, also refuted claims that the NMDPRA, as the regulatory body, was obstructing the private refinery鈥檚 operations due to a lack of crude oil supply from International Oil Companies.

The NMDPRA Chief further stressed that the refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage, and has not received its operating licence till this day.

Ahmed added: 鈥淭here are concerns about the supply of petroleum products nationwide, and some media outlets have reported that we were trying to hinder the Dangote refinery.

鈥淭hat is not true. Dangote Refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage. We have not licensed them yet.

鈥淎t about 45 percent completion, we cannot rely solely on one refinery to supply the entire nation.

Additional reporting by Gbenga Kayode.

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