- Officials of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery have said that the plant pumped 43.3 million litres of petrol into the Nigerian market on Saturday.
- Over the weekend, reports emerged that some depots had raised petrol prices above N800 per litre, citing claims that the Dangote refinery had shut down its petrol unit.
Officials of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery have said that the plant pumped 43.3 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) into the Nigerian market on Saturday.
They disclosed this while debunking claims that the refinery had shut down its petrol processing unit for maintenance.
The officials, who preferred not to be named due to a lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, explained that some marketers were only looking for excuses to increase petrol gantry prices, which the refinery crashed from N828 to N699 per litre.
Over the weekend, reports emerged that some depots had raised petrol prices above N800 per litre, citing claims that the Dangote refinery had shut down its petrol unit.
However, an official of the $20 billion plant questioned the plan by depot operators to increase petrol prices.
Asked if the refinery had been undergoing a maintenance downtime that could trigger a price hike, the source replied, “False! Have we stopped loading or turned back a single truck that has come to load? On Saturday alone, we loaded 43.30 million litres of PMS.”
The source said this was “about 50 per cent more than the actual daily (petrol) consumption of Nigeria”.
Another official stated that the company has enough fuel in its tanks to serve the country for the next 20 days, saying this was to allay any fear of supply disruptions or fuel scarcity. “We have a stock which is more than 20 days of Nigerian consumption,” the source stated.
The official expressed concerns that some traders were hiking prices to create tension in the sector, urging Nigerians to patronise filling stations selling Dangote products. “The public should go only to filling stations where our products are sold. They will get whatever they require there,” he stated.
It was reported that private depots across Lagos and other key fuel trading hubs have increased the ex-depot price of PMS to as high as N800 per litre over the claim that Dangote had shut down its petrol unit.
According to petroleumprice.ng on Saturday, the average cost of petrol at private depots increased within 48 hours, creating concerns over a possible spike in retail pump prices. While the Dangote refinery said it sells petrol at N699 per litre, other depot prices jumped above N800.