The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had projected that the refinery would begin producing petrol between August 10 and 12, 2024. However, findings by The PUNCH reveal that the 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery might not roll out petrol on Monday (today). However, multiple officials close to the development confirmed to The PUNCH that all was set for the refinery to begin the production of the much-awaited Premium Motor Spirit before the end of August.

The ongoing crude supply crisis might be a setback to the Dangote oil refinery which is supposed to commence the supply of the much-awaited Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, into the market today. This is also as PMS marketers await the sale of the commodity by the refinery this week. The refinery has put efforts in top gear to roll out petrol this August, even as it awaits 29 million barrels of crude oil from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

Reliable sources privy to the development told our correspondent that the refinery is 100% ready to pump out petrol as planned. However, they said the low supply of crude may impact the process. For Dangote to sell to Nigerians, it has to be at a competitive rate. For Dangote to source crude at the international rate, how do you expect him to sell at a rate below the cost price? So, it will be better to sell outside the country than to sell in Nigeria at a loss.

Some workers of the refinery who spoke reluctantly to our reporter maintained that all was set for the sale of petrol, but they would not know the exact date and the price. PMS will be out probably by next week, but I don’t know the exact date.”

The PUNCH reports that the Dangote refinery engaged in an exchange of words with the NUPRC over the alleged supply of 29 million barrels of crude oil to the refinery. The Dangote Group Thursday accused the NUPRC of failing to effectively enforce the Domestic Crude Supply Obligations regulations, saying the refinery had yet to get enough crude locally.

Reacting, the NUPRC debunked the claim, stating that it facilitated the supply of over 29 million barrels of crude oil to Dangote from January to June 2024. The commission argued that it had facilitated the domestic supply of crude oil to Dangote refinery and other refineries using the monthly production curtailment platform.

A breakdown shows that nine refineries have benefitted from the 32,088,122 barrels of crude as Dangote alone enjoyed 29,047,098 barrels out of the total supply between January to June 2024. According to the commission, the Warri refinery reportedly received 949,670 barrels; NDPR refinery got 823,395 barrels of crude; Port Harcourt refinery received 471,123 barrels; Seplat-WPSOL refinery was allocated 419,541 barrels; and Waltersmith-WSPOL refinery got 296,353 barrels. Other beneficiaries listed include the Edo refinery which got 58,504 barrels of crude and Du-port refinery which got 22,438 barrels of crude.

In a swift response, the Dangote Group also denied receiving 29 million barrels of crude from any source. The NUPRC spokesperson, Olaide Shonola, told our correspondent that the commission was looking into the claims by the refinery that the allocated 29 million barrels were not received. As August progresses, Nigerians are beginning to ask whether or not the Dangote refinery will be able to supply petrol this month as promised by the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

During the Africa CEO Summit in Rwanda, Dangote announced plans to end the monthly importation of an average of one billion litres of petroleum-based sulfur (PMS) in Nigeria from June. He stated that Nigeria would no longer need to import petrol starting in June and that they have enough gasoline to supply at least the entire West Africa, diesel to supply West Africa and Central Africa, and aviation fuel to supply the entire continent and export some to Brazil and Mexico.

However, in June, Dangote informed Nigerians that his plan to release petrol into the market in the sixth month of the year would no longer be possible. He announced that PMS would start coming out by 10 to 15 of July, but then, they want to keep it in the tank to make sure that it settles. By the third week of July, they will be able to come out to take it into the market. However, this could not happen in July as Dangote again told pressmen that the supply of petrol was impacted by a fire incident that broke out at the refinery’s effluent treatment plant on June 26. He said the product would be out between August 12 and 15.

Petroleum marketers in Nigeria are still waiting to hear from the refinery on when it would begin the release of petrol. Both major and independent marketers showed interest in buying PMS from Dangote, especially after years of depending on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for petrol. The Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, told The PUNCH on Sunday that the major marketers are still waiting to hear from the Dangote Group.

The Dangote Group has alleged that the International Oil Companies are still frustrating crude supply to the 650,000-capacity refinery. The group said the IOCs insisted on selling crude oil to its refinery through their foreign agents, saying the local price of crude will continue to increase because the trading arms offer cargoes at $2 to $4 per barrel, above NUPRC’s official price. It also alleged that the foreign oil producers seem to be prioritising Asian countries in selling the crude they produce in Nigeria.

The Vice President of Oil & Gas, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, had said, “If the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation guidelines are diligently implemented, this will ensure that we deal directly with the companies producing the crude oil in Nigeria as stipulated by the Petroleum Industry Act.” Edwin insisted that IOCs operating in Nigeria have consistently frustrated the company’s requests for locally produced crude as feedstock for its refining process.

President Bola Tinubu has since ordered the NNPC to sell crude oil to Dangote in naira. Oil marketers who weighed into the matter called on the NNPC and the International Oil Companies to hasten up the process of crude oil supply to local refineries both in naira and adequate volumes. The National Publicity Secretary, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, said that the NNPC is on top of this matter, but he must state that they need to expedite action to ensure that crude oil is sent to the refineries.

The National Operations Controller of IPMAN, Mustapha Zarma, called on the NNPC and IOCs to strive to supply crude oil to domestic refineries both in naira and the required volumes. This, he said, would have an enormous gain on the local currency and the Nigerian economy.

Zarma emphasized the need for swift supply to prevent further depreciation of the local currency, stating that while immediate processes may be required, the speed of this process is crucial.