The vice-president of oil and gas at Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, has alleged that international oil companies (IOCs) in Nigeria are trying to sabotage Dangote Oil Refinery and Petrochemicals.
He claims that the IOCs are making it difficult for the refinery to buy local crude by raising prices above the market rate, forcing the refinery to import crude from faraway countries like the United States, which is costly.
Edwin voiced these concerns at a training programme organised by the Dangote Group. He also criticised the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for issuing too many licences to import low-quality refined products.
Edwin stated that although the Federal Government issued 25 licences to build refineries, Dangote’s is the only one operational. He urged the government and regulators to support their efforts, as the refinery has exported 90% of its production, over 3.5 billion litres, and can create jobs and prosperity for the nation.
He stated that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) tries to allocate crude oil to them, but IOCs obstruct these efforts by demanding high premiums or claiming crude is unavailable. This, according to him, has led Dangote to reduce output and import expensive crude, increasing production costs.
Edwin criticised the strategy of IOCs, which he believes is designed to keep Nigeria dependent on imported refined products while benefiting their home countries’ economies.
“The Federal Government issued 25 licences to build refinery and we are the only one that delivered on promise. In effect, we deserve every support from the Government,” the vice-president said.
“It is good to note that from the start of production, more than 3.5 billion litres, which represents 90 per cent of our production, have been exported. We are calling on the Federal Government and regulators to give us the necessary support in order to create jobs and prosperity for the nation.
“While the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) are trying their best to allocate the crude for us, the IOCs are deliberately and willfully frustrating our efforts to buy the local crude.
“It would be recalled that the NUPRC, recently met with crude oil producers as well as refinery owners in Nigeria, in a bid to ensure full adherence to Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligations (DCSO), as enunciated under section 109(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
“It seems that the IOCs’ objective is to ensure that our Petroleum Refinery fails. It is either they are deliberately asking for ridiculous/humongous premium or, they simply state that crude is not available. At some point, we paid $6 over and above the market price.
“This has forced us to reduce our output as well as import crude from countries as far as the US, increasing our cost of production.
“It appears that the objective of the IOCs is to ensure that Nigeria remains a country which exports crude oil and imports refined petroleum products.
“They (IOCs) are keen on exporting the raw materials to their home countries, creating employment and wealth for their countries, adding to their GDP, and dumping the expensive refined products into Nigeria – thus making us dependent on imported products,” he said.
Edwin described this as exploitation and lamented that Nigeria continues to issue import licences for substandard diesel, which harms the environment and public health.
Despite producing high-quality diesel locally, Dangote refinery has had to expand into foreign markets, exporting to Europe and other regions due to compliance with international standards.
“This is exploitation — pure and simple. Unfortunately, the country is also playing into their hands by continuing to issue import licences, at the expense of our economy and at the cost of the health of the Nigerians who are exposed to carcinogenic products,” he added.
“In spite of the fact that we are producing and bringing out diesel into the market, complying with ECOWAS regulations and standards, licences are being issued, in large quantities, to traders who are buying the extremely high sulphur diesel from Russia and dumping it in the Nigerian Market.
“Since the US, EU and UK imposed a Price Cap Scheme from 5th February 2023 on Russian Petroleum Products, a large number of vessels are waiting near Togo with Russian ultra-high sulphur diesel and, they are being purchased and dumped into the Nigerian Market.
“In fact, some of the European countries were so alarmed about the carcinogenic effect of the extra high sulphur diesel being dumped into the Nigerian Market that countries like Belgium and the Netherlands imposed a ban on such fuel being exported from its country, into West Africa, recently,” he said.
Edwin called for the Nigerian government and National Assembly to urgently implement the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and protect Nigeria’s interests.