‘Cost Of Production Is Now Less Than ₦600’ – Oil Marketers Tackle Dangote Refinery Over Fuel Price

Oil marketers in the country have demanded a reduction in the price of petrol coming from Dangote Refinery.

According to the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), the cost of production is now less than ₦600, so petrol from Dangote Refinery should also reflect the new price.

Speaking on Tuesday during a broadcast by Nigeria Info FM 99.3, the spokesperson for PETROAN, Joseph Obele, explained that the reduction in the cost of production is a result of the crude for Naira concession given to Dangote Refinery by the Federal Government.

He, therefore, insisted that it is wrong for Dangote Refinery to insist its products will be sold at the prevailing international market price when they enjoy so much concessions from the government.

Dr Obele said the refinery should consider reducing its price in line with the new cost of production in order to ease the current hardships in Nigeria.

He said: “Scholars of oil sectors have done an analysis and the analysis has shown that the crude for Naira given to Dangote by the Federal Government, cost of production will not go above N600, less than N600. Although the crude oil he imported from the international community, the cost of production will not be above N700.

“But it is wrong for him to say his template for him to fix his refinery selling price is based on and tied to how much the international community is selling. And people are saying the dynamics and the effects and the economic systems at the international market and Nigeria are not the same.

“Dangote should not have fixed his price on the international market. He should have fixed his price on cost of production plus the margin.

“International market (price) in a country where you enjoy so many concessions. While he was building his refinery, the concession he was given for foreign exchange was far less than the official rate to the extent that international experts criticised the concessions given to him. So in Nigeria, where inflation is high, where the minimum wage is poor, Dangote is fixing our buying rate for PMS which is a commodity that every other commodity revolves around. It is wrong for him to say ‘I templated my price based on the international market.”

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has disclosed that it has ended its age-long importation of refined petroleum products and is currently purchasing fuel from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other local refineries.

NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, disclosed this new development on Monday at the ongoing conference of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists in Lagos State.

Kyari disclosed that the NNPC would no longer import fuel, as it now buys it from local refineries.