Apparently speaking out of frustration, Alhaji Aliko Dangote on Sunday indicated his willingness to give up ownership of the multibillion-dollar Dangote refinery to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Many Nigerians have at the weekend expressed concern over the new dimension the brawl between the Dangote Group and regulatory authorities in the oil and gas industry have taken over the operations of the Dangote refinery.
Aliko Dangote, had alleged that local and foreign interests, which he likened to a “mafia”, made repeated attempts to thwart his refinery’s completion.
A few days afterwards, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) alleged that the Dangote Refinery was producing inferior products compared to imported ones.
Farouk Ahmed, who is the Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, alleged that the quality of diesel produced by the refinery was 665 ppm, which he considered inferior, warning therefore that Nigeria may not rely heavily on the Dangote refinery for its fuel supply.
He also said that the refinery has not been licenced to begin operations in the country.
Ahmed made this known while speaking with journalists at the State House, Abuja, on Thursday.
He also denied allegations that the regulatory body was attempting to scuttle the operations of the private refinery due to lack of crude oil supply from international oil companies (IOCs).
In an exclusive interview he granted to PREMIUM TIMES yesterday, however, Africa’s richest man said: “Let them (NNPCL) buy me out and run the refinery the best way they can. They have labelled me a monopolist. That’s an incorrect and unfair allegation, but it’s OK. If they buy me out, at least, their so-called monopolist would be out of the way”.
The 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote refinery, which cost about $19 billion, was commissioned last year, and it had shown promise of helping to tackle Nigeria’s huge reliance on fuel on importation of refined petroleum products, thereby saving the country about 30 per cent of the total foreign exchange spent on imports.
Aliko Dangote has said he is ready to relinquish ownership of the world’s biggest refinery to the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
The Nigerian billionaire spoke amid a new dispute over the sulphur content of petroleum products produced from the refinery and a reported misunderstanding with NNPC, one of the refinery’s key equity partners, and the Nigeria Midstream Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Dangote invites NNPC to acquire his refinery
The refinery, which was commissioned by former President Mummadu Buhari, is estimated to have cost about $20 billion. It promises to help end Nigeria’s dependence on petrol imports and save about 30% of the total FX spent on imports.
The Chairman of the Dangote Group asked the NNPC to buy him out and run the refinery the best way they could, stating that they had labelled him a monopolist.
Africa’s richest man said Nigeria has faced a fuel crisis since the 1970s, promising that his refinery can help resolve the problem. He also stated that it appears that some people are uncomfortable with it.
Premium Times reports that Dangote’s bet on oil and gas is becoming hectic in its early days.
The refinery is set to begin selling petrol to the Nigerian market in early August after operating above half its capacity since January 2024, when it began refining petroleum products.
Dangote resorts to importing petrol
Dangote lamented the difficulty of sourcing crude oil, stating that international oil companies (IOCs) are demanding outrageous premiums and sometimes claim the product is unavailable.
According to reports, the NNPC had delivered only 6.9 million barrels of crude oil to the refinery as of May 2023.
The NNPC has a deal with the company that dates back to the beginning of operations. Earlier, the company agreed to a 20% equity participation.
The Dangote refinery has revealed that NNPC has only paid 7.2% before the deadline issued to the national oil firm.
