By Cross Udo, Abuja
Chairman of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited, Aliko Dangote, has told the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other importers to stop importing fuel products, as his company has over 500 million litres in its tank.
Dangote said we ought not to have fuel queues in the country if regulators allow marketers to come to his refinery to buy the products.
He further said that if the Dangote Refinery is supplied with enough crude, it can produce more than 30 million litres daily.
This came as the NNPCL adjusted the pump price of the commodity in its retail outlets in Lagos from N998 to N1 025. The product now sells for N1,060 in Abuja, up from N1,030.
Speaking to State House correspondents after meeting with President Bola Tinubu on the persistent fuel queues in the country, Dangote said, “Yes, with enough crude supply, we can produce much more than 30 million litres every day.
“At total capacity, we can even supply whatever is being consumed. But what I estimated as consumption, which I believe may be about 30, 32 million that we can even start producing by next week, so it is not an issue because, as we speak today, we have 500 million litres in our tanks.
“So, with 500 million litres in our tanks, even if there’s no production or no imports, this will take the country more than 12 days, with no imports, with no production, nothing. So we are very ready. We are more than ready.
“And you know, I’m also putting my name online by giving Mr President my word that, yes, we will be able to supply the market minimum of 30 million per day, and we’ll be ramping up. So we’re ready. We’re more than ready.”
Reminded that the reality on the ground does not show that Dangote Refinery has enough fuel to last for 12 days because the product is scarce, he said, “Well, you have to understand that we are producers. I have a refinery. I’m not in the retail business. If I’m in the retail business, then you hold me responsible. But I’m saying that the retailers should please come forward and pick.
“If they don’t, come forward and pick. What do you want me to do? So, I am expecting either NNPC or the marketers to stop importing. They should go and pick because we have what they need. And you know, as they remove, I will be pumping. I don’t know whether you understand what keeping half a billion litres inside our tank takes. It’s costing me money every day.
“If I can collect the naira, I can charge somebody 32% in interest. So right now, that’s what I’m losing. And you are talking about 500 million; we don’t print money. However, the issue is that if they come and collect, you will not see any queues in the filling stations.
“We have what it takes for them to come and collect. We are not retailers. We also don’t have trucks to send. We have a factory where they can load. If they come and pick, they will go and sell, and they have been doing that with importation. So if they’ve been doing that with importation, if it’s true, they are doing 55 million, I see no reason why they won’t come and collect our own and distribute.”
Speaking earlier, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said the meeting with President Bola Tinubu was to review the crude for naira policy to the Dangote Refinery.
He said, “We had a session with His Excellency Mr. President today (yesterday) to review the implementation of his bold initiative, endorsed fully by the Federal Executive Council, of selling crude to local refiners, who then sell their product in naira to the Nigerian public.
“This initiative, which Mr President initiated, is also made possible by the courageous and bold investment of the Dangote group in a local refinery with a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
“Today, the implementation committee and the sub-committee have worked assiduously with all stakeholders, the regulators, NNDPRA, NUPRC, NIMASA, NNPC, NPA, the Navy, and a host of other stakeholders to ensure that this important initiative is implemented, and it is being implemented as we speak.
“And what made it most possible is that now we have market pricing of petroleum products. Relatedly, we have market pricing of foreign exchange that has set the economy on the path to industrialization because, with private sector refining of crude oil, we now have raw materials, not just for agriculture, but for industry, chemicals, paints, and building materials for textiles.
“And, of course, this is Mr President’s strategy and policy of making conditions right for the private sector to invest, create jobs, and grow the economy.
“Likewise, the market pricing of petroleum products has also paved the way for NNPC to restore its balance sheet, restore its financial fortunes, and, of course, to give the federation, federal state, and local governments more funding to allow them to meet their obligations, salary payments to workers, social services to the population generally, and of course, key infrastructure development.
“The economy has been set well and truly on a path, although it’s early steps, and there is much to be done, but we can now see a clear path to industrial development for modernization of the Nigerian economy because the key prices are correct, and it is encouraging private sector investment.
“On that note, I believe that what happened in the meeting was that all are committed to ensuring that this all-important effort is sustained and that whatever the teething problems, whatever the initial obstacles to the successful implementation of the local sale in naira of crude petroleum to domestic refiners and the correlating sale of petroleum products in naira is fully achieved.
“There’s the determination, which starts right from the top and moves downwards from Mr. President. There’s a commitment to make this work. We had AFREXIM Bank as part of the meeting. AFREXIM Bank is one of the financial institutions that will assist and be an intermediary to ensure that the parties, the seller of the crude and the buyer of the crude, can complete their transactions, no matter the fact that the foreign exchange market is volatile and moves all the time.”
Speaking after the Minister of Finance, Aliko Dangote described the meeting with the President as good.
He said, “You heard what the Chairman of the Committee on naira for crude on Petroleum product actually, just said, based on our meeting, and I think we’ve had a very, very good meeting where now, we will use a market-determined exchange rate and also the crude price.
“With that, Mr President also directed that NNPC will buy, and marketers will also buy. They will buy just like any other NNPC retail at the end of the day. We also have AFREXIM Bank, which I think they are now going to be the in-go in-between.
“They will now make sure that they’re going to be like the settlement bank between Dangote, other refiners, and NNPC, in terms of crude, and then in terms of selling the products, this thing will revive many industries. Industries that are in plastic, industries in cooking gas, which is LPG, industries like aviation, and industries that will buy gas, oil, and petroleum. I mean, PMS.
“So, all this, the President asked, and I said that the consumption will not be that much. With this price increase, we are ramping up because it’s a brand-new refinery. So obviously, you are now at about 420,000 barrels per day; we still have one- to go.
“Once we get there, we have enough naira crude, we’ll be able to satisfy the market fully. But when NNPC refineries work, Nigeria will be one of the biggest exporters of petroleum products in history. So today, as we speak, the meeting went extremely well, and Mr. President has also said he will support domestic industries.
By supporting domestic industries, he is not going to allow our refineries to fail. So our refineries will work. It will also be a win-win situation. We will attract more investment into the country. So, with this, I can tell you that, yes, the meeting went extremely well.”
*NNPCL officially hikes fuel price to N1,025, N1,060 in Lagos, Abuja
Meanwhile, barely three weeks after jerking up the price per litre of petrol, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) adjusted the pump price of the commodity in its retail outlets in Lagos from N998 to N1, 025. At the same time, the product now sells for N1.060 in Abuja.
This is the third price adjustment between September and October 2024.
Although the NNPCL has not released any official statement on the latest increase in petrol prices, the development is believed to be a fallout of the government’s deregulation policy.
Since President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy during his inauguration ceremony in May 2023, the pump prices of petrol in Lagos have risen from N184 to N1,025.
Apart from NNPCL outlets in Lagos, most of the filling stations were not selling fuel as they claimed they did not have stock.
A few NNPCL outlets that sold the premium commodity sold it at N1,025 while others owned by independent marketers sold a litre of petrol as high as N1,100.
The fresh increase followed the hike from N855 to N998 on October 9, 2024. Also, on September 2, 2024, the retail company hiked the price per litre of petrol from N568 to N855, sparking outrage.
