During the weekend, at least four vessels of the petroleum product were recorded at the borders of the West African country, according to Punch’s findings.
This highlights the contradiction to Dangote’s claim that his refinery can service the whole country, when in reality, it is at the very least unable to do so at this moment.
According to the publication, oil dealers in Nigeria have indicated that the existing supply from the Dangote refinery was insufficient to fulfill local demand.
They claim that the Dangote refinery is generating around 10 million liters of gasoline each day, instead of the 25 million liters it had previously committed to produce.
Via a document obtained from the Nigerian Port Authority on Sunday, 123.4 million liters of PMS were docked at two of the West African country’s seaports.
However, it remains unclear whether the shipment belonged to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Nigeria’s premier energy company, or just oil marketers.
A few days ago, during an interview with the news station TVC, a Professor of Energy/Electricity Law at the University of Lagos, Yemi Oke, stated that Nigerians should not at this time put their eggs in one basket.
He pointed out that while Dangote refinery would eventually be able to meet its daily 25 million liters commitment, its too early for the facility at this time to easily do so.
“Overtime, I predict that the Dangote refinery would become stable, consistent and we are going to have other players come onboard,” he stated.
“But for me, it’s okay that the dealers are approaching other markets to source the product, and its a question of demand and supply.” he added.
Oil supply during the weekend
On Friday, at 10.13 am, the first cargo of 35,000 metric tonnes of PMS contracted to the West African Port Services landed at the terminal ASPM jetty.
At 3:37 p.m.,at the terminal ASPM jetty, 37,000 metric tons of fuel allotted to Intership, followed.
The third shipment carried 10,000 metric tons of petroleum which docked at 3:59 p.m. that same day. Peak Shipping was designated as its agent.
And finally, on Sunday at 8:02 a.m., a ship carrying 10,000 metric tons of petroleum landed at the Eco marine terminal at the Calabar port.
This indicates that 92,000 metric tons were carried in by the four ships.