Refinery Owners ‘Expose’ Dangote Petrol Reserves Amid Imports by Oil Marketers
- Refinery owners have asked the Nigerian government to end petrol importation as the Dangote Refinery has enough stock
- The Crude Oil Refineries Association of Nigeria (CORAN) said the Dangote Refinery has about 500 million litres of petrol to meet national demand
- They questioned the rationale behind the continued PMS import while local refineries have enough stock
Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.
Refinery owners in Nigeria have asked the Nigerian government to stop the importation of petrol, citing the enormous petrol reserves held by the mega Dangote Refinery.
The refinery owners said the giant facility holds over 500 million litres of petrol in stock, enough to meet the daily consumption needs of Nigerians.
Source: UGC
Refinery owners demand a stop to fuel imports
The development came amid concerns over the continued dependence on imported fuel despite functional refineries.
The Crude Oil Refineries Association of Nigeria (CORAN), said its members have enough to stock to meet Nigeria’s petrol supply demands for weeks.
Experts have questioned the rationale behind the continued approval of import licenses by the Nigerian government to marketers, which they say puts pressure on the nation’s FX reserves.
CORAN said in a statement that the availability of locally refined fuel should end petrol imports.
Dangote refinery holds 500 million litres of PMS
They asked importers to patronise the Dangote refinery as the facility holds substantial petrol stock.
According to the statement, MRS Oil sells Dangote petrol cheaper than the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), saying there is no reason to justify imports.
The $23 billion Dangote Refinery hopes to hit 650,000bpd installed production capacity by this month's end.
BusinessDay report says that CORAN further revealed that the mega facility’s reserve could last for about 10 days before it is depleted.
The refinery has contributed to reduced dependence on petrol imports in Nigeria since it began PMS production in September last year.
President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, alerted Nigerians last year that marketers were ditching his refinery in preference for imports.
Refiners blame FG for petrol supply shortfall
CORAN blamed the oil industry for its failure to meet domestic fuel consumption demands.
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nigeria’s petrol consumption dropped from 66 million litres per day to 50 million due to subsidy removal.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) disclosed this recently.
Refiners, however, said regulators could not allocate enough crude oil to local refineries, preventing them from reaching their full production capacity.
They accused the NMDPRA of preferring to issue petrol import licenses to meet the needs of domestic refiners.
Punch quotes CORAN’s publicity secretary, Eche Idoko as saying that the prolonged absence of oil allocation under the Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligation (DSCSO) guidelines is the reason for the shortfall in petrol supply.
CORAN says Oil producers violate industry laws
Idoko stated this as he reacted to a revelation by NMDPRA that Nigeria’s three functional refineries produce less than 50% of the country’s daily petrol consumption needs.
The authority said the shortfall was being met by importation as local production is less than consumption.
CORAN disclosed that the reason local refineries could not operate at full capacity is due to the government’s refusal to allocate more crude to the refineries.
The CORAN spokesman said that for over six months, local refineries have not received a single barrel of oil via the DSCO or any other arrangement.
New petrol prices loom as crude oil prices rise
Legit.ng earlier reported that crude oil prices rose on Friday, February 21, 2025, with Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rising by 0.5% to $76.45 and $72.60 amid President Donald Trump’s promise to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Trump disclosed this at an investment conference in Miami, stressing the importance of restoring the reserve to save the US energy security.
According to him, the reserve was at its lowest before taking over the government, pledging to ‘fill it up fast.’
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Source: Legit.ng
