Dangote To Stop Selling Petrol To Matrix, NIPCO, 4 Others

The management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery is considering halting the sale of petrol to licensed importers in the country.

According to sources familiar with the plans, the move aims to ensure quality is maintained, as the refinery is uncertain about the standard of imported petrol.

It argued that imported petrol could be blended with locally refined petrol before it reaches filling stations, making it hard for buyers and regulators to tell Dangote fuel apart from imported product and potentially damaging the refinery’s brand if quality complaints arise.

“It is difficult to understand why we would invest heavily in producing high-quality petroleum products for Nigerians, only for those products to be mixed with imported products of uncertain quality and the resulting product to be associated with the refinery,” a source familiar with the refinery’s position said as quoted by Vanguard.

Another source said: “There must be a clear distinction between products produced by the refinery and products imported or blended by third parties. Otherwise, any quality problem in the market can be wrongly attributed to the refinery.”

Naija News understands that Dangote is also reportedly uncomfortable that some companies are still bringing in imported petrol, even though more fuel is now being refined inside Nigeria.

According to figures cited by the refinery, imported petrol made up about 43 per cent of total petrol supply in July. That, Dangote argues, is shrinking the local market available to Nigerian refiners.

Sources, however, added that the refinery will now give priority to marketers that do not hold import licences, while marketers that continue to import under the federal government’s approved regime may no longer be supplied by Dangote.

The six companies licensed by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to import PMS are:
Matrix Energy
A.A. Rano
AYM Shafa
NIPCO
Pinnacle Oil and Gas
Bono Energy

Their licences, issued in May, cover a combined 720,000 metric tonnes, with individual allocations of between 60,000 and 150,000 tonnes.