The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has said that its Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, will be exported if the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and other petroleum dealers in the country refuse to patronise it.
The Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, stated this on Monday while featuring on Brekete Family live show.
Edwin, who confirmed a report by The PUNCH that the refinery has started the production of petrol, said local oil traders have resorted to importing diesel and aviation fuel, blocking local sales of Dangote fuel.
“We have been exporting aviation fuel, we have been producing kerosene, we have been producing diesel, but yesterday, we started the production of PMS. So, that was the last stage. The only thing now left out is petrochemicals.
“So, the good news for the country is we have started producing PMS from our refinery since yesterday (Sunday),” he confirmed.
Asked if the petrol would be sold locally, Edwin replied, “Well, I explained how there has been a kind of a blockade from lifting our products within the country. The traders have been trying to block (it), and so now we have been exporting our petroleum products. PMS, we are ready to pump in as much as possible to the country.
“But if the traders or NNPC are not buying the product, obviously, we will end up exporting the PMS as we are doing with the aviation jet and diesel,” he declared.
Edwin expressed surprise that the company started facing different challenges it never expected when the refinery was set to commence operations.
He recalled that the philosophy initially was to add value to the raw materials available in the country, regretting that Nigeria is still exporting crude and importing refined petroleum products after over three decades.
“The philosophy is to take the crude, and instead of exporting the crude, refine it, add value; export the finished products, and supply the finished products locally. But unfortunately for us, we started facing challenges with the crude supply.
“What is happening today? We are struggling to get the crude. We are now importing the crude from the US, we are importing from Brazil, and from other parts of the world. So, the whole philosophy has gone upside down. After all these decades, we are exporting crude, importing products,” he added.
He stated further, “The same thing is continuing. We are not getting enough crude allocation, and the crude is still being exported. We are forced to import crude from outside. Yes, we are getting some crude locally, but it’s not adequate.”
Commenting on the laws governing domestic crude supply obligations, he said, “As per the laws, no crude can be exported, unless all the local refineries requirements are met. That is specified in the Petroleum Industry Act. But we are struggling to get the crude.”
He revealed that the company has started the construction of four crude tanks of 120 million litres capacity each to store imported crude due to low local supply.
“In fact, if you see the refinery, we are building four new crude tanks, each of the tanks has 120 million litres capacity. We have to construct the tanks because we are not getting the local crude. We import from overseas, which means we should have enough stocks due to the shipping time,” he maintained.
