Dangote Refinery, one of Africa’s largest oil refineries, is facing challenges due to low patronage from petroleum marketers in Nigeria.
Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, revealed during X (Twitter) Spaces session hosted by Nairametrics that over 95 per cent of petroleum product importers in Nigeria are not buying from the refinery.
Devakumar said as a result, the refinery is struggling to sell about 29 tankers of diesel daily. This low local patronage has forced the refinery to export most of its diesel and aviation fuel products.
He explained that local petroleum marketers have raised concerns about the refinery’s pricing, stating that the reduced local prices—now at N900 per litre—are affecting their businesses. These challenges have impacted the refinery’s operations and Nigeria’s fuel supply, leading to more exports than local sales.
“Over 95 per cent of petroleum product importers in Nigeria are not buying from the Dangote Refinery. The Dangote Refinery struggles to sell about 29 tankers of diesel per day due to low patronage from local petroleum products importers.
“As a result of this poor local patronage, Dangote refinery exports most of its diesel and aviation fuel” he said.
“Petroleum product marketers in Nigeria have written to President Bola Tinubu to complain that the refinery local prices which have dropped from N1,200 to N1,000 and now N900 per litre are impacting their businesses negatively,” he said.
Despite these hurdles, Dangote Refinery has started producing petrol (PMS) and is prepared to supply it locally. However, Devakumar noted that if Nigerian marketers, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), do not buy their products, the refinery will be forced to export petrol, just as it does with diesel and aviation fuel.