The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has alerted Nigerians about a depot, rented by an unnamed international trading company, that is allegedly blending substandard fuel products next to its facilities.
The Dangote Group says these products are intended for sale in Nigeria, which poses risks to both public health and the local refining industry.
In a statement on Sunday, Dangote Group’s Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, said this activity threatens both the quality of fuel in the market and the long-term growth of domestic refining.
“An international trading company has recently hired a depot facility next to the Dangote Refinery, with the objective of using it to blend substandard products that will be dumped into the market to compete with Dangote refinery’s higher quality production,” Chiejina explained. He called this move “detrimental to the growth of domestic refining in Nigeria.”
This announcement followed comments from petroleum marketers, including the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), claiming they could sell imported fuel at a lower price than the Dangote Refinery’s product. Marketers recently shared that Dangote’s price for Premium Motor Spirit, or petrol, is between N1,015 and N1,028 per liter, depending on the volume purchased.
Chiejina responded, stating, “We benchmark our prices against international prices and believe they are competitive. 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.”
The statement also raised concerns about Nigeria’s regulatory body, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, highlighting that it lacks proper lab facilities to detect substandard imports. “Unfortunately, the regulator, NMDPRA, does not even have laboratory facilities that can be used to detect substandard products when imported into the country,” the statement noted.
Dangote Refinery also clarified its pricing, revealing that it has set its fuel rates at N960 per liter for ship sales and N990 per liter for truck sales—slightly lower than the Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s rates of N971 and N990 for ship and truck sales, respectively. Chiejina said, “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.”
Chiejina emphasized the importance of supporting local industry, a practice common worldwide, noting, “It is not unusual for countries to protect their domestic industries to provide jobs and grow the economy.” He urged Nigerians to “disregard the deliberate disinformation” spread by those who benefit from fuel imports over local production.
