‘We’ve not licensed them yet’ — NMDPRA says Dangote refinery at ‘45% completion’

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says the Dangote refinery is still at the pre-commissioning stage and has not been licensed.

Speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt on Thursday, Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer (CEO) of NMDPRA, said there are numerous concerns regarding petroleum products’ supply nationwide.

“Well, just like you rightly asked, 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,” he 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 can not 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.”

This, Ahmed said, is not good for the nation in terms of energy security and also not good for markets because of monopoly.

“So, in terms of quality, currently, the AGO quality in terms of sulphur is the lowest as far as West Africa’s requirement of 50 ppm,” he said.

“Dangote refinery as well as some major refineries like Waltersmith refinery, produce between 650 to 1200 ppm. So, in terms of quality, their quality is much more inferior to the imported quality.”

On June 4, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, said some international oil companies (IOCs) were struggling to supply crude to his refinery.

Speaking on Arise TV on July 15, Gbenga Komolafe, chief executive officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) described the claim as “erroneous” as the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has provisions that guide willing buyer-willing seller transactions.

On July 17, the management of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) insisted that IOCs are frustrating its request to purchase crude feedstock for the Dangote refinery.