According to the Punch newspaper, citing an anonymous source, the Dangote refinery is close to beginning the sale of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol.
The anonymous source confirmed to the Punch’s correspondent that the product would hit the market soon, as the Dangote Group is in the process of working out modalities for the circulation of the product.
The report by the Punch also revealed that a government source confirmed the sale and distribution of the PMS is being handled by the Federal Government.
According to the source, only the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is now licensed to distribute Dangote fuel.
Dangote Petrol sale delays
Dangote had claimed earlier this year that petrol supplies from the refinery would begin in May, but this failed to occur.
The corporation later pushed back the deployment date to June, then July and subsequently August, all to no avail owing to disruptions in crude oil supplies to the facility.
This delay has been the result of an intense debacle between the group and several elements including the Nigerian government.
There had been an episode where Nigeria’s sale of crude to the refinery hit a road block before the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the proposal for the state oil company, NNPC Ltd, to begin selling crude oil in Nigeria’s local currency to the Dangote refinery, and to other refineries.
Due to accusations that oil majors were preventing Dangote from accessing locally produced petroleum by either selling it over market price or saying it was unavailable, the Dangote refinery was previously forced to buy oil from the international market including Brazil and the US. The refinery was thus compelled to depend on pricey imports.
Additionally, there was also the accusation by Aliko Dangote that certain Nigerian employees of the NNPC, oil dealers, and terminals had established a blending factory in Malta, which interfered with the refinery’s ability to produce its petrol.
