Why we can’t announce price for our petrol – Dangote Group

By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

Dangote Group has explained why it cannot fix the price for the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol being produced from its new refinery in Lagos State.

Dangote Group said this while dismissing a newspaper report that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL has started lifting petrol from the refinery.

The report had indicated that the petrol from Dangote Refinery is being sold for N897 per liter to Nigerians.

But Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief Branding and Communications Office of Dangote Group, in a statement on Thursday said the petrol market is strictly regulated, and as such, the company can not determine, fix or influence the product price.

He added that there are government agencies saddled with the task of fixing the price of petrol.

“We would like to state that NNPC has not commenced lifting of refined Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, from our Dangote petroleum refinery.

“Therefore, the issue of fixing the price of petrol lifted from our refinery does not arise, as we are yet to finalise our contract with NNPC.

“The PMS market is strictly regulated, which is known to all oil marketers and stakeholders in the sector, hence we can not determine, fix, or influence the product price, which falls under the purview of relevant government authorities.

“We urge the public to disregard the headline as it is misleading and does not represent the true position in this matter. We are guaranteeing Nigerians of exceptionally high quality petroleum products that will be readily available all over the country,” the statement said.

Th Chairman of Dangote Group had on Monday stated that the over 600 million barrels per day is ready to roll out petrol for sale to Nigerians. However, while the NNPCL has been mentioned as the sole buyer of the refined petrol, the price of the product has not be revealed.

The commencement of roll out of petrol from the Dangote refinery coincided with the increase in price of the product by the NNPCL.