Our diesel won’t cause environmental pollution – Dangote

The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, on Tuesday, said diesel refined at the Dangote Refinery called “Euro 5” is less than 10 parts per million (10ppm).

Mr Dangote disclosed this in an interview with ARISE News on Tuesday at the refinery in Lagos.

On Monday, Devakumar Edwin, vice president at Dangote Industries Limited, said the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery has begun the processing of petrol.

Mr Edwin explained that The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), Nigeria’s sole importer, would buy its product exclusively.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Dangote said the Euro 5 diesel has less than 10 ppm, which will help engines, vehicles, and generators last much longer and will not damage people’s health or pollute the environment.

“This is the gasoline, this is the PMS, and you can see the diesel. Because I’m sure most Nigerians have never ever seen this colour of diesel. But this is what you call Euro 5 diesel- it’s less than 10 ppm, that is sulphur wise.

“So, this is what will really help the engines, vehicles, you name it, generators, they will last much much longer. The health of people too, the environment, will not be polluted. This is the real thing, Euro 5 Diesel for the first time in the history of Nigeria,” Mr Dangote said.

Speaking on the processing and testing that goes on in the refinery, Mr Dangote said, “Our lab, actually is not number two, it’s number one in the world, and I can beat my chest and tell you that.”

In recent months, the Dangote Group and the petroleum regulators in Nigeria have been at loggerheads 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 refusing to supply crude or offering oil at higher premiums than market prices.

It also clashed with the regulators of the Nigerian energy industry, including the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, which claimed diesel from the refiner has sulphur content levels above the allowed threshold. The regulators 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 imported samples.

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