‘They oppose local fuel refining’ – Dangote Refinery denies reselling crude

Dangote Refinery has dismissed claims making the rounds that it is reselling crude oil bought from Nigeria and the United States to other traders.

The spokesperson for the Dangote Group, Tony Chiejina made this known in a statement on Saturday.

He described that report that its 650,000 barrels per day crude distillation unit is experiencing challenges.

The company said the claims were categorically false, noting that it was not authorized to resell crude oil purchased from Nigeria.

Accordingly, it said the narratives were driven by those who do want the refinery to commence local refining of fuel.

“Our attention has been drawn to a misleading report suggesting that our refinery’s crude distillation unit (CDU) is experiencing issues and that we are reselling crude oil.

“We categorically deny these claims. The Dangote refinery is not authorized to sell crude oil, and our CDU is fully operational and functioning optimally.

“We advise the public to disregard these false narratives, which are likely driven by interests opposed to the local refining of fuels,” he said.

The development comes amid allegations by Dangote Refinery that International Oil Companies in Nigeria are selling crude oil to the company at higher prices.

Recall that Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin had claimed that IOCS were frustrating the full-scale commencement of Dangote Refinery.