Aliko Dangote, CEO of Dangote Refinery, has clarified the ongoing fuel pricing concerns, stating that the refinery’s petrol was sold to NNPC at a price lower than what the national oil company imported.
Dangote made this statement on Monday in an interview with Bloomberg TV in New York, USA.
Dangote said that during the time NNPC bought from them, the national oil company also imported about 800,000 metric tonnes of petrol into the country.
He added that the petrol the national oil company imported during the same time they bought from the 650,000 barrels per day refinery was way more expensive than what Dangote sold.
“What’s going on is not really a disagreement per se. NNPC bought from us this particular one on the 15 of September at the international price. They also bought over 800,000 metric tonnes of gasoline imported.
“The ones they bought from us was actually cheaper than the one they imported. So when they announced our price, it wasn’t really the real price. What they announced was likely what it cost them including profits, and other things. Meanwhile, they’ve never added profit to their cost before.
“And then, the other one is what they imported but the people don’t know how much they spend for importing. But their own importation was about fifteen to 20 percent more expensive than ours. What they first do is to sell at a basket price. If they want to remove subsidy, they can announce that they’ve removed subsidy. Everybody will adjust,” he said.
A controversy has emerged following the NNPC’s announcement that the Dangote Refinery sold petrol to them at N898 per litre after the first batch of offtake from the facility.
This statement sparked concerns regarding the pricing of petrol in Nigeria, given the nation’s ongoing efforts to stabilize fuel costs for consumers.
In response, the Dangote Group issued a statement refuting NNPC’s claim, explaining that the quoted N890 per litre does not represent the actual national price. According to the group, they sold the petrol to NNPC at a considerably subsidized rate, given the circumstances surrounding their crude oil acquisition.
Dangote Group further clarified that they purchase their crude oil from international suppliers in dollars, and this international market dynamic affects their pricing structure.
Despite this, they maintained that they provided the product at a rate lower than what might be expected based on the global crude oil market.