The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) has strongly refuted claims made by Dangote Refinery regarding the issuance of licenses for dirty fuel and the importation of substandard petroleum products.
Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin, recently expressed concern over the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) granting licenses indiscriminately to marketers to import dirty refined products into the country.
Edwin said that NMDPRA’s decision to grant licenses for the importation of substandard diesel and aviation fuel has prompted Dangote Refinery to expand into foreign markets.
However, in a statement issued by the association’s Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, and obtained by The Guardian, DAPPMAN stressed that no member of its association, nor any private fuel depot, has imported fuel into the country that does not meet the specifications currently approved by NMDPRA.
The management of the association stated that the information from Dangote Refinery is laced with inaccuracies.
The association, however, revealed that the regulatory authority had recently objected to offtakes by their daughter vessels from import mother vessels via ship-to-ship operations, which was protested and resisted by downstream operators and has since been rescinded.
“Between February and May 2024, the NMDPRA had allowed AGO imports with maximum sulphur content of 200 parts per million (ppm) however this was followed by another move, by the regulator, to fast forward the country target date of the implementation of the 50/ppm sulphur limitation on PMS and AGO imports, from 31st December 2024 to 1st June 2024, thereby limiting all marketers and depots’ AGO source to Dangote Refinery even though the latter was yet to install its desulphurization equipment as the sulphur in its blends of AGO presently exceed 50/ppm.
“This again was resisted by DAPPMAN in its letter to the NMDPRA which was dated 10th June 2024 to warn and alert the regulator not to ‘inadvertently promote and introduce a monopoly into the sector,” DAPPMAN stated.
DAPPMAN stated that there has been strong resistance to the introduction of a Dangote Refinery monopoly into the downstream sector.
The association also expressed surprise that despite the refinery’s recent production of AGO with sulphur contents reported at 1200 ppm, the management of Dangote Industries, including the Dangote Refinery, would claim that the NMDPRA has been indiscriminately granting licences to marketers to import ‘dirty refined products’ into the country.
The association further stated that Dangote’s current blend of AGO, with reported sulphur contents of 1200 ppm, is technically classified as ‘dirty fuel’ and grossly in excess of the 200 ppm imported by any marketer or depot owner.
The Marketers Association stated that while Dangote Refinery, as a business entity, is free to adopt any model that suits its management, its current practice of offering cheaper bulk sales prices to international buyers at the expense of Nigerian buyers raises questions about its patriotism. They noted that several Nigerian marketers had recently been offered Dangote Refinery cargoes by international trading firms at rates significantly lower than what they were directly offered by Dangote Refinery, which ultimately harms the interests of Nigerian fuel end-users.
“There is no doubt that the success of Dangote Refinery will be a thing of pride to the nation, but all downstream operators and their activities must be in tandem with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 which abhors ‘monopoly’ of any sort.
“DAPPMAN will continue to work with all stakeholders, including Dangote Refinery willingly to provide safe, healthy fuels to all Nigerians competitively giving them great and affordable fueling options for their daily activities,” it stated.
