Africa’s largest refinery, Dangote Refinery, is accusing the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) of being reckless by issuing fuel importation licences indiscriminately.
The Nigeria-based refinery claims holders of fuel importation licences are importing dirty diesel and jet fuel into the country, thereby, compelling them to export 3.5 billion litres of products, representing 90 per cent of their production.
“The decision of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), in granting licences indiscriminately for the importation of dirty diesel and aviation fuel has made the Dangote refinery expand into foreign markets.
“The refinery has recently exported diesel and aviation fuel to Europe and other parts of the world.
“The same industry players fought us for crashing the price of diesel and aviation fuel, but our aim, as I have said earlier, is to grow our economy,” said Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, said during a training programme for selected journalists in Lagos at the weekend.
According to Edwin, despite Dangote’s effort to meet ECOWAS’s standards, the authority gives licences to traders to import high-sulfur petrol from Europe into the country.
He explained that since the US and UK have issued a cap on Russia’s petroleum products, these products are now dumped in Nigeria’s market by various traders.
“Even though we are producing and bringing out diesel into the market, complying with ECOWAS regulations and standards, licences are being issued, in large quantities, to traders who are buying the extremely high sulphur diesel from Russia and dumping it in the Nigerian Market.
“Since the US, EU and UK imposed a Price Cap Scheme from 5th February 2023 on Russian Petroleum Products, a large number of vessels are waiting near Togo with Russian ultra-high sulphur diesel and, they are being purchased and dumped into the Nigerian Market.
“Some of the European countries were so alarmed about the carcinogenic effect of the extra high sulphur diesel being dumped into the Nigerian Market that countries like Belgium and The Netherlands imposed a ban on such fuel being exported from its country, into West Africa, recently.
“Sadly, the country is giving import licences for such dirty diesel to be imported into Nigeria when we have more than adequate petroleum refining capacity locally,” Edwin said.
In addition, Edwin said the reason why Dangote can export to foreign countries is because its products meet international oil standards.
He said this indiscriminate licensing by NMDPRA would only frustrate the refinery’s adherence to standard quality, making it easy for traders to import low-quality petroleum products into the country.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com