NNPC Confirms Petrol Purchase From Dangote Refinery At N898 Per Litre Amid Pricing Discrepancies

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) stressed Monday that it has purchased petrol from the Dangote refinery at N898 per litre, after the latter denied the same.

Chief Corporate Communications Officer Olufemi Soneye said Monday morning, "If the price isn't N898, then what is it? We would be happy to receive a discount. Throughout the day, various figures have been circulating—some claiming N1,300, Punch reported around N767, and another outlet mentioned N500," Premium Times reported.

"It's our responsibility to clarify the facts. The truth is, the government is not setting fuel prices, nor is NNPC Ltd. It's a deregulated market where prices are determined by market forces. Let them tell you their price. I stand by my earlier comment. Will you allow customers to carry your product without price agreement?"

NNPC Ltd reiterated this statement after Dangote denied the claim. On Sunday, Soneye first said that the company had bought petrol from the Dangote refinery at N898 per litre and noted that domestic pump prices are now set by market forces.

This was denied by the Dangote Refinery on Sunday night, saying that this claim was "misleading and mischievous," meant to undermine their efforts to improve Nigeria's energy supply.

Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer Anthony Chiejina advised Nigerians to ignore the "malicious statement" and wait for a formal announcement about pricing from the Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales.

This committee, appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will begin its work on Oct. 1.

NNPC also announced that it was paying the Dangote Refinery in U.S. dollars for petrol deliveries this month, adding that the payments in Naira will start from next month onwards. It also clarified that, according to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), petrol prices were not set by the government, but were negotiated directly between parties.

Earlier this month, vice president of Dangote Industries Limited Devakumar Edwin announced that Dangote Refinery has started processing 650,000 barrels of petrol per day, adding that NNPC Limited would be the only buyer of the refinery's petrol.

Last week, the government also mentioned the same, adding that NNPC will be responsible for distributing petrol further to various marketers in the short term.