PREMIUM TIMES
Dangote Refinery is falling short of its commitment to deliver 25 million litres of petrol to the nation daily for September, sources familiar with the matter have told PREMIUM TIMES.
This newspaper learnt that rather than deliver 75 million litres in three days, the refinery was only able to supply 10,297,766 (about 10.3 million litres) through its gantry loading system.
With that figure, the refinery demonstrated a supply shortfall of almost 65 million litres in three days, a situation experts say is capable of threatening the nation’s energy security.
An NNPC official said Nigeria risked a significant energy crisis, with fuel shortages escalating, if the government failed to act swiftly.
“I am aware that due to the forecast that the Dangote Refinery would provide 25 million litres daily, the NMDPRA failed to clear NNPC Trading Limited to import petrol for October and onwards,” the official said, asking not to be named because he had no permission to speak on the matter. “With the supply shortage from the refinery, Nigeria is in trouble because, as we speak, there is not enough product to go round the country.”
Records from NMDPRA show that the daily truckout of petrol from depots across the country averaged 51.10 million litres between 1 January 2024 and 18 September 2024.
Loading data obtained by this newspaper showed that on 15 September, the first day of loading, the Dangote Refinery supplied the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Retail Limited (NNPC Retail Ltd) with a total of 2,486,842 (2.48 million) litres of petrol in 56 trucks.
On 16 September, NNPC Retail loaded 50 trucks containing 2,221,773 (2.2 million) litres of petrol. Another marketer, AYM Shafa, loaded 24 trucks with 1,120,465 (1.1 million) litres of the product. The total number of trucks loaded for the day was 74, while the product received aggregated to 3,342,238 (3.3 million) litres.
However, product supply improved marginally on 17 September but was still far below expectations. On the day, NNPC Retail Ltd received 4,063,526 (4 million) litres in 89 trucks, while AYM Shafa could only load one truck, which carried 44,999 litres of the product. NIPCO trucked out 360,161 litres of petrol in eight trucks. The total number of trucks loaded for the day was 98, conveying 4,468,686 (about 4.5 million) litres of the product.
The Wednesday, 18 September, loading data is not immediately available to this newspaper.
Earlier in September, the federal government said the Dangote Refinery would supply Nigeria’s domestic market with 25 million litres of petrol daily and 35 million litres daily from October.
On Tuesday, the Dangote Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, told Vanguard newspaper that the refinery supplied 111 million litres of the product within three days.
“We have already loaded 111 million litres of petrol, and the exercise is ongoing. We are refining and have no reason not to load. So, loading is ongoing and we will continue to provide the product to the market,” Mr Chiejina was quoted by Vanguard as saying.
However, official data reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES paint a different picture from Mr Chiejina’s claim. The data indicated that in three days, less than 10.3 million litres were lifted from the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery.
On Wednesday, when this newspaper contacted Mr Chiejina, he said what he told Vanguard was that the refinery produced and made available 111 million litres for loading in three days.
He blamed the current slow loading speed on NNPCL, which he said needed to send more trucks to lift the product. For instance, the state-owned oil company only sent 67 trucks on 15 September instead of the 300 trucks it claimed to have dispatched to the facility to load the product, Mr Chiejina said.
Olufemi Soneye, the NNPC’s chief corporate communications officer, did not answer or return calls on Wednesday. He also did not reply to a text message seeking clarification on Mr Chiejina’s claim.
However, Dangote Refinery documents reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES showed that contrary to Mr Chiejina’s claim, the facility has so far only made available for loading a total of 24,700 metric tonnes of petrol (about 33 million litres – at 1,322.76 litres per tonne). The released volume of product is 42 million short of the 75 million the refinery committed to supplying for three days, at 25 million per day.
To supply 25 million litres of petrol to the nation daily while relying on road transportation alone, the refinery must load at least 500 trucks daily, with each vehicle carrying at least 50,000 litres of the product. Marketers believe this is impossible, but Mr Chiejina of the Dangote Group said that is achievable with the facility’s 177 loading points.
NNPC officials said they recently approached the refinery requesting vessel loading but were told that the operation facilities needed to be prepared. “With that information from Dangote, the vessel MT Binta Saleh has been withdrawn,” one official said. “No vessel loading yet, as advised by Dangote.”
When asked why the refinery is yet to commence vessel loading, Mr Chiejina said he was not aware that the NNPC had requested vessel loading. “They can lift five million litres, but vessel loading is yet to start because there is a need for an agreement,” he said.
Last Friday, the Nigerian government announced that petrol loading from the Dangote Refinery would begin on Sunday.
The government said petrol from the Dangote refinery would only be sold to NNPC Ltd, which would then be sold to various marketers in the short term.
The state-owned oil company said it deployed over 100 trucks as of Saturday afternoon. Confirming the development, Mr Soneye said that by the end of Saturday, a least 300 trucks would be stationed at the refinery’s fuel-loading gantry.
On Sunday, Mr Soneye told this newspaper that the refinery bought petrol from Dangote refinery at N898 per litre. He said market forces now determine domestic pump prices.
“For instance, now Brent is $70. Let’s say tomorrow, Brent goes to $80. You should note that the price will also rise because those are the market forces. But today, for this initial 16.8 million litre that was given to us, it was at the rate of N898,” Mr Soneye said.
In its reaction, the Dangote Refinery described the claim as “misleading and mischievous,” aimed at undermining the refinery’s achievement in addressing Nigeria’s energy insufficiency. However, the refinery failed to disclose the price it sold the product to NNPC Ltd.
In a counter-statement, the NNPC insisted it bought the product for N898 per litre and would be grateful for any discount from the Dangote refinery that can be passed 100 per cent to the general public.
“Let them tell you their price. I stand by my earlier comment. Will you allow customers to carry your product without a price agreement? Mr Soneye told PREMIUM TIMES earlier on Monday.
