Nigeria’s state-owned oil company, NNPC Limited, began distributing gasoline from the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery to the local market on Sunday, September 15, following delays over offtake rights and pricing.
The $20 billion Dangote Refinery, built by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, started gasoline production last week, but distribution was held up due to disputes. Z
acch Adedeji, Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), announced that all agreements have now been finalized, allowing loading to begin.
Starting October 1, NNPC will supply approximately 385,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the Dangote Refinery.
Payments for this crude will be made in naira, and in exchange, Dangote will supply gasoline and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market.
Adedeji emphasized that gasoline sales will be exclusively handled by NNPC, requiring marketers to purchase through the national oil firm, although the refinery is allowed to sell diesel directly to other buyers.
This statement counters NNPC’s previous claim that it would not be the sole distributor of petrol from the refinery.
Currently, only about 5% of local fuel traders are sourcing products from the Dangote Refinery, which is limiting its daily diesel sales to 29 tankers, according to a company executive.
