The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has begun supplying Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, directly to some oil marketers, bypassing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
Reports indicate that more marketers are seeking to purchase PMS directly from the refinery, while others continue importing the product, with hundreds of millions of liters of imported petrol expected to arrive in Nigeria in the coming weeks.
Earlier, The PUNCH reported that at least four vessels carrying imported PMS had docked at Nigerian ports between October 18 and October 20, with around 123.4 million liters of PMS unloaded at two seaports to help stabilize nationwide fuel supply.
This move by marketers comes in addition to the $20 billion Dangote refinery’s output, providing further support to the market.
Marketers have now begun lifting PMS directly from the Dangote plant in Lekki, Lagos, signaling a significant change in Nigeria’s fuel supply chain.
According to a senior refinery official, this direct purchase arrangement operates on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis, allowing oil marketers to bypass third-party suppliers and engage directly with the refinery.
“Marketers are already coming to the refinery to lift PMS directly, and agreements have been made with some marketers. If the price wasn’t favorable, they wouldn’t be coming to us,” the official said, indicating that Dangote’s pricing is competitive enough to attract interest.
“Some of the trucks you saw there today were from marketers purchasing the product directly from Dangote, without recourse to NNPC. So the direct sale has started,” another source told The PUNCH.
Officials also revealed that the refinery is dedicating around 53% of its crude oil supply to PMS production due to high demand for petrol in Nigeria and other countries.
The proportion of crude used for PMS may change if demand for other products grows, but for now, petrol remains the primary focus.
“This could be reviewed in future if the demand for other finished products increases more than the demand for petrol, but right now about 53 per cent of our crude is used for petrol production, while other products account for the remaining percentage,” the official stated.
When asked if marketers had started the direct purchase of petrol from Dangote without recourse to NNPC, one of the notable major marketers in the country replied in the affirmative.
“Yes, everyone is in the process. This was advised that it would happen soon and is a normal business transaction,” the source stated.
This direct sale initiative follows earlier claims that the NNPC would be the sole off-taker of PMS from the Dangote refinery starting September 15.
However, a recent announcement from the Technical Subcommittee on Domestic Sale of Crude Oil in Local Currency, headed by Finance Minister Wale Edun, confirmed that marketers can now purchase PMS directly from local refineries, fostering competition and improving market efficiency.
Although some Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) officials, led by Vice President Hammed Fashola, are still in discussions about logistics and modalities for lifting PMS from Dangote, refinery officials confirmed that direct sales to certain marketers have already commenced.
Meanwhile, the refinery has dismissed claims that it sold PMS to NNPC at N898 per liter when sales began in mid-September, labeling such reports as misleading.
The refinery maintains that the official naira-for-crude committee will eventually announce the product’s price, but as of October 22, no such announcement has been made.
[NaijaNews]