NNPC Ltd., Dangote refinery clash over fuel pricing discrepancy

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has disclosed that it purchased Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the Dangote Refinery at N898 per litre, contradicting the refinery’s earlier claims.

This announcement, made on Monday by NNPC Ltd.’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, followed Dangote Refinery’s sharp denial of the pricing figure disclosed by NNPC Ltd. over the weekend.

On Sunday, the Dangote Refinery dismissed NNPC Ltd.’s initial statement as “misleading and mischievous,” insisting that its fuel sales to NNPC Ltd. were made in U.S. dollars due to the refinery’s crude procurement in foreign currency.

Through its Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, the refinery advised Nigerians to disregard the N898 pricing, adding that an official price announcement would come on October 1 from the Technical Sub-committee on Naira-based crude sales.

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Despite this, NNPC Ltd. reaffirmed that the price of N898 per litre was accurate and released a detailed breakdown of the pump prices at its retail stations. In Lagos, the pump price is projected at N950.22 per litre, with higher prices expected in other states due to transport costs.

The pricing breakdown includes the N898.78 per litre paid to the refinery, regulatory fees, distribution costs, and other charges.

The clash between NNPC Ltd. and Dangote Refinery has raised concerns about transparency in fuel pricing, with the refinery claiming significant savings compared to imports but failing to disclose its exact sales price to NNPC Ltd.

NNPC Ltd. countered this by emphasizing that all transactions were conducted in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), where fuel prices are negotiated independently of government intervention.

As the disagreement intensifies, both parties await further developments, especially with the refinery’s formal price announcement set for October 1. The public remains caught in the middle, unsure of the real cost of PMS from the Dangote Refinery.