Dangote: Our petrol was 20% cheaper than NNPC’s import price

Billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote, CEO of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Plants, revealed that the refinery sold Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC Ltd) at 20% less than what the state oil company paid for imported fuel.

This clarification comes amid ongoing confusion over fuel pricing between Dangote Refinery and NNPC Ltd.

While the state oil company claimed it bought at N898/liter, Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer of the conglomerate described it as misleading and mischievous.

Reacting to this in an interview on Bloomberg TV, Dangote said that during the time NNPC bought from them, the national oil company also imported about 800,000 metric tonnes of petrol into the country.

He clarified that the refinery’s petrol was sold to NNPC Ltd at a price lower than what the national oil company imported.

In response to claims by NNPC that it purchased petrol from Dangote Refinery at N898 per liter, Dangote’s Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, dismissed the figure as “misleading.”

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Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Dangote explained that while NNPC bought fuel from his refinery in mid-September, it simultaneously imported 800,000 metric tonnes of petrol. He noted that the price NNPC paid for the imported petrol was significantly higher.

“The petrol we sold to NNPC was cheaper than the imported product, but the price NNPC announced likely included profits and additional costs,” Dangote said.

He emphasized that NNPC’s importation costs were 15-20% more than what it paid the refinery, adding that any future decisions to remove subsidies would require transparent communication to avoid public misunderstanding.

“What’s going on is not really a disagreement per se. NNPC bought from us this particular one on the 15 of September at the international price. They also bought over 800,000 metric tonnes of gasoline imported.

“The ones they bought from us were actually cheaper than the ones they imported. So when they announced our price, it wasn’t really the real price. What they announced was likely what it cost them including profits, and other things. Meanwhile, they’ve never added profit to their cost before.

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“And then, the other one is what they imported but the people don’t know how much they spend on importing. But their own importation was about fifteen to 20 percent more expensive than ours. What they first do is to sell at a basket price. If they want to remove the subsidy, they can announce that they’ve removed the subsidy. Everybody will adjust,” he said.