President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has advised petroleum marketers to stop the importation of petrol as his subsidiary, Dangote Refinery, has produced enough stock to meet local consumption.
According to him, Dangote Refinery presently has over 500 million litres of petrol stocked in its tanks awaiting evacuation by buyers.
He said the stock, given the rate of current local fuel consumption, can last the country 12 days even with zero importation.
The business mogul spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday after a meeting of the implementation committee on the sale of crude and petrol in Naira called by President Bola Tinubu.
On why petrol scarcity has persisted despite his boast of huge stranded product stock, the Richest Man in Africa said his company is not involved in retailing and can, therefore, not do much to help in that regard.
He urged retailers to come forward and buy the available product rather than resort to importation.
He also expressed his company’s capacity and readiness to continue to satisfy local demand for fuel as long as the NNPC fulfils its obligation of selling crude to them.
“One thing that you have to understand that we are producers. I have a refinery. I’m not in the business of retail. If I’m in the business of retail then you hold me responsible. But what I’m saying is that the retailers should please come forward and pick, if they don’t, come forward and pick, what do you want me to do?
“They should come and pick because we have what they need. And you know, as they remove, I will be pumping. I don’t know whether you understand what it takes to keep half a billion liters inside our tank. It’s costing me money every day. The issue is that if they come and collect then you will not see any queues in the filling stations.
“I’m also putting my own name online by giving Mr President my word that, yes, we will be able to supply the market minimum 30 million per day, and we’ll be ramping up. So we’re ready. We’re more than ready.”
The meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, follows months of speculation that Dangote had fallen out with the president and the state oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL).
