Exclusive: Marketers to start lifting petrol from Dangote refinery on Sunday

…25m litres to be delivered daily via NNPC Trading Ltd

Dangote Refinery is set to commence the distribution of its refined petrol to retail outlets across Nigeria starting this Sunday, BusinessDay’s findings have revealed.

Sources said the pump price of petrol will remain unchanged, despite the introduction of its product into the market. The initial daily allocation is expected to be 25 million litres, delivered through the NNPC Trading Limited at a cost of N765.99 to marketers.

“NNPC Trading Limited will continue to import a shortfall of 15 million litres to meet Nigeria’s daily demand for petrol estimated at 40-50 million litres a day,” a source said.

He added, “Each marketer will take a maximum of 50 trucks daily; They will buy at a price of N765.99 through the NNPC Trading Limited, including their costs movement and sell at the current pump price of N855 to N897 depending on the location per litre”.

To ensure a smooth transition, marketers have been instructed to start sending their trucks to the refinery today to facilitate the lifting process.

Read also: 95% of marketers don’t buy our diesel over low pricing – Dangote refinery

He added, “Next month Dangote refinery will move to a daily allocation of 30 million litres from then marketers will be picking by vessels”.

BusinessDay’s findings showed there will be a joint statement by both NNPC and Dangote refinery teams who are currently meeting in Abuja.

The move is expected to significantly boost the country’s fuel supply and alleviate the challenges faced by consumers.

Dangote Refinery, located in Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos, is a major milestone in Nigeria’s industrialization efforts. Its operationalisation is expected to reduce the country’s dependence on imported petroleum products and contribute to economic growth.

European refineries
Dangote’s production is expected to impact billions of dollars of trade in fuel markets regionally and beyond as Nigeria remains a global demand sink for the fuel, receiving almost 250,000 barrels a day in shipments last year, mostly from Europe, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa Ltd.

For decades, European refiners have enjoyed a lucrative market in Nigeria as an unreliable power supply from the national grid forces companies across Africa’s fourth-biggest economy to rely heavily on imported refined products with a net value of $17 billion annually.

Traders and shipping data seen by BusinessDay showed Nigeria’s new Dangote refinery is ramping up gasoil exports to West Africa, capturing market share from European refiners.

“As much as ‪300-400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity in Europe is at risk of closure because of rising global gasoline production,” Andon Pavlov, an analyst at Kpler, a global trade intelligence platform, said in a note.