Marketers complained to Tinubu that our diesel price is cheap — Dangote Refinery

Dangote Refinery, one of Africa’s largest oil refineries, has expressed concerns over low patronage from petroleum marketers due to its reduced pricing strategies.

The firm also revealed that petroleum product marketers in Nigeria have written to President Bola Tinubu, expressing concerns over the impact of the Dangote Refinery’s diesel price drop to N900 per litre on their businesses.

Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, disclosed this during a Twitter Spaces session organised by Nairametrics.

Edwin stated that over 95 per cent of petroleum product importers in Nigeria are not purchasing from Dangote Refinery.

“The refinery struggles to sell about 29 tankers of diesel per day due to low patronage from local petroleum product importers,” he said.

Due to this lack of local demand, the refinery is exporting most of its diesel and aviation fuel.

Edwin also revealed that petroleum product marketers have written to President Bola Tinubu, complaining that Dangote Refinery’s price reductions—from N1,200 to N1,000 and now N900 per litre—are negatively affecting their businesses.

Noting the challenges facing the refinery, Edwin said that if the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other petroleum dealers do not increase their patronage, Dangote Refinery will continue to export its products.

“We have been exporting aviation fuel, producing kerosene, and diesel, and recently we started producing PMS (petrol),” Edwin said, noting that the refinery is ready to supply locally but may have to export PMS if there is no local uptake.

Edwin expressed frustration over unexpected challenges faced by the refinery, which was initially established to add value to Nigeria’s raw materials. He lamented that despite decades of refining capability, Nigeria still exports crude oil while importing refined petroleum products.