The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has said that the Nigerian government is yet to license the Dangote refinery to begin operations in the country.
Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer (CEO) of NMDPRA, disclosed this while speaking with journalists at the state House on Thursday.
According to Ahmed, the claims of ongoing efforts to scuttle the operations of Dangote refinery due to lack of supply of crude oil by International Oil Companies were not true, adding that the refinery was still at the pre-commissioning stage and has not been licensed yet.
“There are lots of concerns about the supply of petroleum products nationwide and the claims by some media houses that we were trying to scuttle Dangote refinery; that is not so,” Ahmed said. “Dangote refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage. It has not been licensed yet. We have not licensed them yet.”
“I think they are at about 45 percent completion. So we cannot rely heavily on one refinery to feed the nation because Dangote is requesting that we should suspend or stop all importation of petroleum products, especially automotive gas oil (AGO) or jet kero and direct all marketers to the refinery.”
Ahmed emphasized that relying solely on the Dangote refinery to feed the nation is not feasible at this stage.
He noted that Dangote’s request to suspend or stop all importation of petroleum products, particularly automotive gas oil (AGO) and jet kero, in favor of directing all marketers to the refinery, would promote a monopoly and pose risks to the nation’s energy security.
“So, in terms of quality, currently, the AGO quality in terms of sulfur is the lowest as far as a West African requirement of 50 ppm,” Ahmed explained.
“Dangote Refinery, as well as some major refineries like Walter Smith’s refinery, produce 650 to 1,200 ppm. So, in terms of quality, their quality is much, much inferior to the imported commodities.”
Devakumar Edwin, vice-president at Dangote Industries Limited had earlier stated that IOCs were making it difficult to access local crude, often forcing them to use expensive middlemen and pay inflated prices, Energy Afrique reported on Thursday.
