‘It’s false’ — oil marketers counter Dangote refinery on substandard products claim

Oil marketers under the aegis of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) have disputed the Dangote refinery’s claims implying that petrol sold at lower prices by others is substandard.

On November 3, the Dangote refinery said any oil marketer that sells petrol cheaper than the price it offers is importing a lower quantity.

The factory said its prices are benchmarked against the international prices and the amount the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited sold to local marketers post-deregulation.

Reacting to the claim in a statement on Tuesday, Olufemi Adewole, executive secretary of DAPPMAN, said none of its members work with anyone to import low-quality products into the country.

“We have said this for the umpteenth time, and it bears repeating, those in the downstream sector business of petroleum products trade are patriotic Nigerians who will not shortchange Nigerian citizens for filthy lucre,” Adewole said.

“Our members are in this business to add value to the businesses of their fellow Nigerians and not to defraud them.

“Prices of products in the international market are dynamic as they are dictated by prevailing circumstances at every given situation. We calculate our landing costs based on the dynamics of market forces, and the templates are always in the public domain.

“To claim that if the landing cost of imported product happens to be lower than that of the refinery indicates importation of low quality product is not only preposterous, but also fallacious. In any case, the management of the refinery has, until now, kept its cost and prices close to its chest and put it away from public scrutiny.”

Adewole said the refinery’s comment is targeted at projecting DAPPMAN’s members negatively before the public.

He also said such claims cannot help the company’s desire to have oil marketers patronise its products.

“What will ensure such patronage is transparency, fairplay, and readiness to compete with others, including foreign refineries, on an even keel and on a level playing field,” he added.

‘NMDPRA HAS MODERN LABORATORY’

The DAPPMAN executive secretary said the company’s claim that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) does not have a modern laboratory to test imported fuel is false.

“A regulator must have access to modern, state of the art laboratory at every point in time, whether owned by it or others. Such laboratories must be of world standard,” he said.

“The regulator, and indeed, the marketers, have access to such world-class laboratories, which include: SGS, Inspectorate, and Interterk, among others.

“If fuel marketers were bringing in off-spec fuel, this wouldn’t have been difficult to detect. How many vehicles in the last one year have reported engine problems resulting from bad fuel? Where are the reports about environmental pollution occasioned by the usage of low quality fuel?

“It is a false statement to claim that any product brought in with a landing price lower than the price offered by the Dangote Refinery is a substandard product.

“It is the management of the refinery that will need to tweak its template to reflect the crude for naira sales and other incentives which the federal government has graciously extended to the refinery.”

Adewole also said the members were surprised to know that the refinery has a 500 million litres fuel reserve.

“We were surprised because we believe that if the Refinery has such huge stock, it is the marketers that should be put in the know first,” the executive secretary said.

“Secondly, it was even more surprising given that the news came about the time the refinery was working on rationing what each marketer could pick from the refinery. If they had such huge stock, how is it then that they are rationing what marketers could buy.”

Adewole said the association will continue to play by the rules and will not be tired of advocating for a level playing field, and a competitive and transparent sector.