•Dangote
“Those boasting to sell petrol below our price are importing substandard products”, Dangote Refineries said yesterday.
The refinery which rolled out petrol from its plant on September 15, announced that it is selling to trucks at N990 per litre, reports The Nation.
The company spoke through its Chief Branding/Communication Officer, Mr. Tony Chiejina.
It was the first time the Refinery would make known the litre price of its petrol.
Explaining its pricing, the refinery said: “Post deregulation, NNPCL 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.
The clarification came in the wake of claims credited to Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) and others that they can import the product cheaper than the Dangote Refinery price.
Chiejina insisted that Dagote petrol’s litre price aligns with international benchmark.
He accused the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) of lacking the wherewithal to detect substandard products if imported.
Last month, PETROAN showed concern over what it called non-disclosure of the exact price of petrol (per litre) by the Dangote Refinery.
PETROAN President, Billy Gillis-Harris, said it was high time that Dangote opened up the space of communication with retailers and other stakeholders in the industry.
Dangote Refinery said: “We had lately refrained from engaging in media fights but we are constrained to respond to the recent misinformation being circulated by Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association (PETROAN) and other associations.
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.
“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.
“Unfortunately, the regulator (NMDPRA) does not even have laboratory facilities which can be used to detect substandard products when imported into the country.
“Post deregulation, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) 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.
“In good faith, and in the interest of the country, we commenced sales at these prices without clarity on the exchange rate that we will use to pay for the crude purchased.
“At the same time, an international trading company has recently hired a depot facility next to the Dangote Refinery, with the objective of using it to blend substandard products that will be dumped into the market to compete with Dangote Refinery’s higher quality production.
“This is detrimental to the growth of domestic refining in Nigeria. We should point out that it is not unusual for countries to protect their domestic industries in order to provide jobs and grow the economy.
“For example, the United States (U.S.) and Europe have had to impose high tariffs on EVs and microchips in order to protect their domestic industries.
While we continue with our determination to provide of affordable, good quality, domestically refined petroleum product in Nigeria, we call on the public to disregard the deliberate disinformation being circulated by agents of people who prefer for us to continue to export jobs and import poverty.”
