Dangote refinery speaks on IPMAN payment, supply claims

Dangote Refinery on Thursday said it has not received any payments for the purchase of refined petroleum products from the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

The company’s Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, disclosed in a statement on Thursday.

The company made this known in reaction to a claim by the marketers that they were unable to load petrol from the refinery for days.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Wednesday, the IPMAN President Abubakar Garima said its members are unable to load petrol from the refinery, despite payment of N40 billion to the Nigerian National Company Limited (NNPC Ltd).

In its statement on Thursday, the Dangote Refinery said it is misleading to suggest that the IPMAN members are experiencing difficulties loading refined products from its refinery, noting that it currently has no direct business dealings with them.

Mr Chiejina emphasised that the payment has been made through the NNPC Ltd and not the refinery, adding that the NNPC Ltd has neither approved, nor authorised them to release petrol to IPMAN.

“The Dangote Petroleum Refinery wishes to clarify that it has not received any payments from the IPMAN to purchase refined petroleum products.Although discussions are ongoing with IPMAN, it is misleading to suggest that they (IPMAN Members) are experiencing difficulties loading refined products from our Petroleum Refinery, as we currently have no direct business dealings with them.

“Consequently, we cannot be held responsible for any payments made to other entities. The payment in mention has been made through the NNPC Ltd, and not us. In the same vein, NNPC Ltd has neither approved, nor authorised us to release our Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to IPMAN,” he said.

“We would like to emphasise that we can meet the nation’s demand for all petroleum products, including petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel.”

At present, he said the refinery can load 2,900 trucks per day and have also been evacuating petroleum products by sea.

“We advise IPMAN to register with us and make direct payment as we have more than enough petroleum products to satisfy the needs of their members.”

The refinery urged all stakeholders to refrain from making unfounded statements in the media, as that could undermine the economic reengineering efforts of President Bola Tinubu.

He explained that conducting business through public speculation is counterproductive and unpatriotic.

“In the interest of our country, we encourage all stakeholders to collaborate and heed the advice of President Tinubu, while promoting a unified approach, rather than engaging in media conflicts and needless propaganda,” he said.

On Tuesday, Aliko Dangote, founder and president/chief executive of the Dangote Group, said his refinery has more than 500 million litres of petrol in stock, but marketers have not been picking up the product.

Mr Dangote did not say for how long the 500 million litres of petrol had been refined and stored by his 650,000 barrels per day refinery.

However, PREMIUM TIMES reported that data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum RegulatoryAuthority (NMDPRA), showed that his refinery was unable to meet the required volume of petrol sought by NNPC Ltd for three weeks.

According to the Dangote Evacuation Report seen by this newspaper, between 15 September and 5 October, the refinery delivered only 148 million litres of petrol, instead of 575 million litres.

Dangote Refinery-NNPC Tango

In recent months, the Dangote Group has been at loggerheads with the NNPC, petroleum regulators and some private oil firms over the control of the petroleum downstream market.

In June, the Dangote Group accused some international oil companies of sabotaging the plant’s operations by either refusing to supply crude or offering oil at higher premiums compared to market prices.

It also clashed with the NMDPRA, which claimed diesel from the refiner has sulphur content levels above the allowed threshold. The regulator also accused Dangote of seeking to be a monopoly.

In refuting the allegation, Mr Dangote took lawmakers visiting the refinery to a laboratory within the plant, where diesel from the refinery was tested alongside two different samples from imports.

The results showed the sample from the refinery’s diesel had much lower sulphur than the imported ones.

In July, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) directed NNPC Ltd to engage Dangote refinery and other local refineries with a view to resolving the dispute over the sale of crude oil to them.

The FEC, presided over by President Bola Tinubu, also directed that such crude oil sales to the refineries be made in naira and that the refineries, located in Nigeria, should also sell their refined products to the Nigerian market in naira.

READ ALSO: UPDATED: Dangote tells NNPC, oil marketers to stop importing petrol, says refinery has enough

In October, the Nigerian government said it had officially commenced the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in Naira. The sale in Naira took effect from 1 October, the government said at the time.

PREMIUM TIMES also exclusively reported that NNPC Ltd ended its exclusive purchase agreement with Dangote Refinery, opening up the market for other marketers to buy petrol directly from the refinery.

The decision meant that the NNPC no longer act as the sole off-taker, and marketers can now negotiate prices directly with Dangote Refinery.