The joy expressed by Nigerians ahead of the loading of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, by the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited (NNPC Ltd) from the Dangote Refinery is bound to fizzle within the next 24 hours.
Reasons for this are two-fold: First, Dangote Refinery sold PMS to NNPCL at N898 per litre. Second is that Dangote Refinery could not meet up with the 25 million litres per day that it agreed with the NNPCL.
THE CONCLAVE reports that the biggest refinery on the continent of Africa, which is touted to have the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels per day, could only deliver 16.8 million litres to the off taker-the NNPCL-on the first day of the consummation of their deal.
Sources close to the development said that the Day One supply was 8.7 million litres short of the original agreement of 25 million litres per day that the NNPCL requested and which was agreed by both parties.
THE CONCLAVE learnt that the refinery is providing 12,200 metric tonnes of PMS from Tank No. 3201D at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju Lekki.
Credible information at the disposal of this medium indicated that in preparation for the supply, the NNPCL had issued a Letter of Credit to cover the originally agreed 25 million litres.
But the national oil company got a shocker on Sunday when Dangote Refinery, as learnt, told the NNPCL management that it would not be able to deliver the full volume of 25 million litres.
The inability of the Dangote Refinery to deliver the full volume has raised concerns over its ability to sustain delivery of the exact quantity of the product especially on the second and third days of the PMS upload.
This, as feared, might further negatively impact the scarcity of fuel, which supply situation is still somewhat epileptic with attendant queues still doting some fuel stations that have the product especially in Lagos and Abuja.
Reports also indicated that the price for this initial supply from Dangote Refinery was N898 per litre. It is expected that by the time the marketers add their profit margin, the price at which PMS would be sold to Nigerians could be about N1,000 per litre.
But initial reports that the Dangote Refinery sold fuel to the NNPCL at N1,300 per litre were later superseded by another report that the price at which NNPCL loaded PMS from the Dangote Refinery was N898 per litre.
When contacted for clarifications on the NNPCL-Dangote Refinery deal as per the price and volumes loaded, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the NNPCL, Mr Olufemi Soneye said the reports that initially did the round that NNPCL loaded PMS from Dangote Refinery at N1,300 per litre were not correct.
According to him: “We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote Refinery today. The claim that we purchased it at N1,300 per litre is incorrect. For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per litre.”
Soneye said further: “I can also confirm, in response to your inquiries, that we will receive 16.8 million litres. So far, we have loaded over 70 trucks today (Sunday) and its (loading) still ongoing.”
Meanwhile, in a riposte, Dangote Refinery has said that reports that indicated the refinery sold its PMS at N989 per litre was misleading and mischievous.
The Dangote Refinery did not however state the exact amount at which it supplied its PMS to NNPCL.
Read the Refibery’s short statement issued by Anthony Chiejina, Dangote’s Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer: “Our attention has been drawn
to a statement attributed to NNPCL spokesperson, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, that we sell our PMS at N898 per litre to the NNPCL.
“This statement is both misleading and mischievous, deliberately aimed at undermining the milestone achievement recorded today, September 15, 2024, towards addressing energy insufficiency and insecurity, which has bedeviled the economy in the past 50 years.
“We urge Nigerians to disregard this malicious statement and await a formal announcement on the pricing, by the Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales to local refineries, appointed by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, which will commence on October 1, 2024, bearing in mind that our current stock of crude was procured in dollars.
“It should also be noted that we sold the products to NNPCL in dollars with a lot of savings against what they are currently importing. With this action, there will be petrol in every local government area of the country regardless of their remote nature.
“We assure Nigerians of availability of quality petroleum product and putting an end to the endemic fuel scarcity in the country.”
THE CONCLAVE reports that this fuel supply was part of a “naira for crude” arrangement, “where crude oil is sold to local refineries and petroleum products are purchased in naira.”
The initiative, as gathered, was designed to reduce pressure on the Nigerian naira and lower transaction costs.
The arrangement, as further learnt, was aimed at enhancing the availability of petroleum products in Nigeria and provide competitive pricing to oil marketers.
THE CONCLAVE reports that the implementation of the scheme is being supervised by the Federal Executive Council, which had mandated the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun to lead the charge. Edun is discharging the assignment in collaboration with the Chairman of the Federal Inland revenue Service (FIRS) Mr Zaccheus Adedeji.
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
