The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has pushed back against recent claims by oil marketers suggesting that the facility lacks the capacity to meet Nigeria’s domestic fuel needs.
Refinery officials, speaking with The PUNCH, maintained that the $20 billion facility not only produces sufficient fuel for local consumption but also exports excess volumes to neighbouring countries. This response follows remarks by Aliko Dangote, founder of the refinery, who accused certain vested interests of working against the refinery’s success.
Reacting to Dangote’s comments, Olufemi Adewole, Executive Secretary of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), argued that marketers are merely focused on sustaining their businesses through fuel importation. He denied the existence of a ‘cabal’ but acknowledged that depot owners have long invested heavily in ensuring fuel supply to Nigerians. Adewole claimed the Dangote refinery has yet to meet the country’s current, albeit reduced, consumption levels.
Quoting recent remarks from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Adewole said the refinery is not meeting national demand, forcing private depots to fill the gap. “It is we, the private depot owners, that have been bridging the gap and meeting the needs of Nigerians,” he said.
However, a senior Dangote refinery official dismissed the claims, asserting that the refinery is consistently producing and exporting fuel after supplying to the local market. He questioned the credibility of national consumption figures, which he claimed were often manipulated under the former subsidy regime.
“We produce more than enough fuel for the local market, and we still export daily. The narrative that we can’t meet demand is simply false,” he said. Another official echoed this, defending President Tinubu’s push to prioritise local production and accusing some marketers of sabotaging the policy for personal gain.
In response to DAPPMAN’s allegations of monopolistic practices and harmful price cuts, the refinery source argued that importers are more concerned about profit margins than consumer welfare. He also highlighted past instances of round-tripping during the fuel subsidy era as evidence of unethical practices among some importers.
The refinery further challenged DAPPMAN, IPMAN, and PETROAN to disclose how they determined Dangote’s fuel stock levels, urging them to present verifiable data. A consultant to the refinery questioned, “How did they conclude we can’t meet demand if they don’t even know our current stock?”
During a recent media tour of the facility, Aliko Dangote reaffirmed that the refinery would soon attain its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, stressing that Nigeria’s domestic consumption is far less than half of the refinery’s output.
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