The management of the Dangote Refinery, in response to claims from the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) about high fuel prices, has defended its pricing strategy, insisting that its rates are competitive and in line with international standards.
The refinery, in a statement released by the company’s Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, claimed that the assertions made by IPMAN and PETROAN that they can land cheaper petroleum products meant that they were importing substandard products into the country.
The statement read, “We had lately refrained from engaging in media fights but we are constrained to respond to the recent misinformation being circulated by IPMAN, PETROAN, and other associations. Both organisations claim that they can import PMS at lower prices than what is being sold by the Dangote Refinery.
“We benchmark our prices against international prices and we believe our prices are competitive relative to the price of imports.
“If anyone claims they can land PMS at a price cheaper than what we are selling, then they are importing substandard products and conniving with international traders to dump low quality products into the country, without concern for the health of Nigerians or the longevity of their vehicles.”
Chiejina, in the statement, further pointed out that Nigeria’s regulator, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), lacks laboratory facilities capable of detecting these substandard imports.
The Refinery noted that it has already adjusted its prices to support the market, selling Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at N960 per litre for sale into ships and N990 per litre for trucks. These figures are reportedly lower than the NNPC’s set prices, which Chiejina explained were at N971 for sale into ships and N990 for trucks. “In good faith, and in the interest of the country, we commenced sales at these prices without clarity on the exchange rate that we will use to pay for the crude purchased,” the statement read.
The company also raised concerns about an international trading company that recently acquired a depot near the Dangote Refinery, allegedly for blending and selling substandard products in Nigeria. “This is detrimental to the growth of domestic refining in Nigeria,” Chiejina said, calling for measures to protect local industries. He referenced examples from the US and Europe, where governments impose tariffs to shield critical domestic sectors, urging similar support for Nigerian refining.
As Dangote continues its operations with a commitment to delivering “affordable, good quality, domestically refined petroleum product in Nigeria,” the company called on Nigerians to “disregard the deliberate disinformation being circulated by agents of people who prefer for us to continue to export jobs and import poverty.”
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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