Dangote Refinery sells PMS at N960/litre to ships, N990 for trucks — Official

In a recent press statement, Dangote Refinery has addressed the claims made by IPMAN, PETROAN, and other associations regarding the import and pricing of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

Dangote revealed that its PMS prices align with international standards, suggesting that any competitor claiming lower import prices might be introducing substandard products into Nigeria, potentially harming vehicle longevity and consumer health.

Dangote cited the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) recent PMS pricing, noting that NNPCL set a benchmark of ₦971 per liter for ships and ₦990 per liter for trucks, which the refinery has since reduced to ₦960 and ₦990, respectively.

The refinery also expressed concern over a nearby depot facility blending potentially inferior products to compete with Dangote’s offerings, warning of potential risks to Nigeria’s domestic industry and economy.

In a statement released Sunday night and signed by the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, Dangote Refinery noted that it followed the pricing benchmark by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), adding that it went lower in pricing for selling into ships.

It reads, “Both organisations claim that they can import PMS at lower prices than what is being sold by the Dangote Refinery. We benchmark our prices against international prices and we believe our prices are competitive relative to the price of imports.

“If anyone claims they can land PMS at a price cheaper than what we are selling, then they are importing substandard products and conniving with international traders to dump low-quality products into the country, without concern for the health of Nigerians or the longevity of their vehicles. Unfortunately, the regulator (NMDPRA) does not even have laboratory facilities which can be used to detect substandard products when imported into the country.

“Post deregulation, NNPC set the pace by selling PMS to domestic marketers at N971 per litre for sale into ships and at N990 for sale into trucks. This set the benchmark for our pricing and we have even gone lower to sell at N960 per litre for sale into ships while maintaining N990 per litre for sale into trucks.

“In good faith, and in the interest of the country, we commenced sales at these prices without clarity on the exchange rate that we will use to pay for the crude purchased.

“At the same time, an international trading company has recently hired a depot facility next to the Dangote Refinery, to use it to blend substandard products that will be dumped into the market to compete with Dangote Refinery’s higher quality production.

“This is detrimental to the growth of domestic refining in Nigeria. We should point out that it is not unusual for countries to protect their domestic industries to provide jobs and grow the economy. For example, the US and Europe have had to impose high tariffs on EVs and microchips to protect their domestic industries.

“While we continue with our determination to provide affordable, good quality, domestically refined petroleum products in Nigeria, we call on the public to disregard the deliberate disinformation being circulated by agents of people who prefer for us to continue to export jobs and import poverty.”