The management of Dangote Petroleum refinery has declared that there is no going back on its free fuel distribution logistics initiative, describing recent attacks against it from some associations in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry as being orchestrated to derail the plan and not borne out of genuine patriotic concern.

In a statement issued last night, Dangote Petroleum Refinery said the position of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) lacks legitimacy and has nothing to do unionization as being claimed.

Their position, according to the statement , have made it abundantly clear that the actions and threats issued by them “is not borne out of legitimate concerns about unionization, but a calculated campaign of economic sabotage that is orchestrated by vested interests who perceive progress as a threat to their entrenched positions”.

Reacting to a press statement by DAPPMAN, which was published, in some Newspapers, last week, Dangote refinery accused the Association of misleading Nigerians, noting that their claims were contradicted by established facts.

Dangote Refinery management in its statement said; “In January 2022, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) reported that one of DAPPMAN’s members had supplied petrol containing over 15% methanol, well above acceptable limits (Methanol which is not a standard industry practice or procedure for refinery, but blenders use it to prompt up the octane rating to an acceptable level that is well above anti-knocking ratio).

“The result was widespread engine damage for thousands of end users. Yet, no transparent government inquiry or independent investigation was ever conducted to determine the source, intent, or full impact of the adulterated fuel.”

The refinery also described as incorrect, the claim that the price of petrol in Togo is lower than in Nigeria. It revealed that the average pump price in Lomé stands at approximately 680 CFA francs per litre, equivalent to N1,826. “This figure reflects the very scenario that DAPPMAN and its affiliates appear to advocate for in Nigeria. The Dangote Refinery has positioned Nigeria as a primary source of affordable petrol feedstock for West Africa, despite the refinery importing over 60% of the crude oil it processes. Remarkably, the refinery is able to offer petrol at prices below the international benchmark within the Sub-Saharan region.”

Noting that it is increasingly evident that DAPPMAN and some of its members are disproportionately focused on the importation of refined products, even admitting to round-tripping, whereby petrol produced by the Dangote Refinery is re-imported from Togo into Nigeria at a markup, the statement further revealed another hole in their narrative of being the major supplier of petrol in the country. “What, then,” it asked, “is the business rationale behind this practice, especially when considering the substantial additional cost of transporting petroleum products from Lomé to Lagos – costs that run into billions of Naira?” (The Nation)