Relief In Sight As Trucks Begin Petrol Lifting At Dangote Refinery 

There are indications that Nigerians may heave a sigh of relief from the scarcity of petroleum in the country as a fleet of trucks began petroleum loading at the Dangote Refinery, yesterday.

A fleet of trucks was seen lifting the Premium Motor Spirit otherwise known as petrol at the 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery, located in the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos State, yesterday.

No fewer than 300 trucks from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) arrived at the refinery to lift the first batch of petrol.

The trucks, belonging to the NNPCL, were seen in videos posted on the X handle of the Dangote Group.

The tweet read, “First set of trucks set for loading of PMS at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.”

Another tweet read, “NNPC begins PMS lifting at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.”

The $20bn Lekki-based facility is equipped with 86 gantries making it possible to load 86 trucks simultaneously.

At the start of the process, 10 trucks drove into gantries while their compartments were filled with petrol from a computerised gadget, the Nigerian Television Authority reports.

The loading of the Dangote petrol signifies an end to the month-long debate over the quality and sale of the product.

Many Nigerians have also expressed optimism that the lifting of petrol at the Dangote Refinery may likely end the current fuel scarcity in the country.

The Tide reports that many filling stations across the country have shut down due to the inability of trucks to load petrol at the various depots, while a few stations that have the product sell between N900 and N1,500.

However, one major issue that remains unresolved is the price at which the 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery would sell the product to oil marketers and subsequently, the public.

Meanwhile, the NNPCL, in a tweet on Saturday, noted that hundreds of trucks would be deployed to the refinery yesterday (Sunday) for PMS loading.

The national oil firm stated, “In preparation for the Dangote Refinery’s scheduled petrol loading on Sunday, September 15, 2024, NNPC Ltd has been mobilising trucks to the refinery’s fuel loading gantry in Ibeju-Lekki. As of Saturday afternoon, NNPC Ltd had deployed over 100 trucks, with hundreds more en route.”

The Federal Government, through the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, announced last Friday in Abuja that the NNPCL would be the sole buyer of petrol from the refinery, adding that the refinery would commence the distribution of petrol to marketers yesterday with an initial 25 million litres per day.

This followed the national oil firm’s statement that it was not the exclusive off-taker of products from the Dangote refinery and that the refinery was free to sell its petrol to any marketer.

The minister said, “I am glad to announce that all agreements have been put in place, and the loading of the first batch of PMS, as already announced by NNPC, will commence on Sunday, September 15, 2024. And from October 1, NNPC will commence the supply of crude oil to the Dangote refinery to be paid in naira.

“In return, Dangote refinery will supply PMS and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market to be paid in naira. But for now, PMS will only be sold to NNPC. NNPC will then sell to various marketers.”

The National Publicity Secretary, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Ukadike, said the market should be open for all in line with the willing-buyer and willing-seller commitment earlier made by the corporation.

“It should be open for all in line with the willing-buyer and willing-seller comments made by the NNPC. We are also looking at how to build our logistics and come up with our price,” he stated.

Also, the National President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, raised concerns over the risks of creating a new domestic monopoly in the oil and gas sector.

Gillis-Harry said, “Right now, even on Saturday, that business (petrol) is going to start rolling out tomorrow (Sunday), we don’t know what the price might be. Nobody has informed us about anything; we are not aware of what the government is doing.

“We don’t know any of the pricing templates yet or the matrix that will bring about the pricing template. We have been asking Dangote or anybody that is in charge of this transaction to be transparent, but somehow, we have not got any of that information.

“We are about to leave NNPC monopoly from importation and now we are also going to have that in a domestic environment, that portends danger for the industry.”