NNPC Replies MURIC, Denies Being Sole Offtaker Of Dangote Fuel
. Says Market Open To Lower Prices From Any Domestic Refinery
. MURIC Urges NNPC, Dangote To Close Ranks To Reduce Fuel Price
By Sulaimon Salau
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), has declared that it is not the sole offtaker of products from the Dangote refinery.
Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye, made this declaration in response to the allegations made by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), which claims that the Dangote Refinery is being undermined by actions of the NNPC.
MURIC has stated that recent changes to the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) will prevent the Dangote Refinery from offering lower prices and that NNPC Ltd has become the sole offtaker of all products from the refinery.
Shoneye said, to set the records straight, NNPC wishes to further state that the pricing of petroleum products from any refinery, including the Dangote Refinery Ltd (DRL), is determined by global market forces.
“The recent changes in PMS prices have no impact on the DRL or any other domestic refinery’s access to the Nigerian market. In fact, if current prices are perceived as high, it presents an ideal opportunity for the refinery to sell its products at lower prices in the Nigerian market.
“Furthermore, we emphasize that there is no guarantee of lower prices associated with domestic refining compared to any global parity pricing framework, as confirmed by the DRL. The NNPC Ltd will only fully offtake PMS from the DRL if the market prices of PMS are higher than the pump prices in Nigeria.
“The DRL and any other domestic refinery are free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, which is the current practice for all fully deregulated products.
“NNPC Ltd has no desire or intention to become the distributor for any entity in a free market environment, and therefore, the notion of becoming a sole offtaker does not arise.
“The NNPC Ltd cannot undermine a business in which it holds a billion-dollar stake.
“As an advocacy group for fair and just treatment, MURIC should have verified the facts before making statements that are entirely flawed and have the potential to incite ordinary Nigerians against the NNPC Ltd,” he stated.
Meanwhile, MURIC has immediately responded saying NNPC’s clarification has underlined the need for more discussion between Dangote Refinery, NNPC itself and other stakeholders with a view to reducing the price of petrol, promoting a robust economic flow and enhancing a more efficient supply of the product in order to reduce hardship for poor Nigerians.
The Executive Director, MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said “We wish to assert clearly that MURIC did not say anything new. Our allegations were mere repetitions of information about pricing and sole marketing which was already in the public domain before we spoke .
“This is enough to alarm any patriotic Nigerian and the spontaneous reaction of independent marketers to this story is enough evidence of this as they opposed the idea,” he stated
Akintola said the NNPC’s clarification is well noted and accepted.
“In particular, it is interesting to note that NNPC has stated that it is not the sole offtaker of Dangote products.
“As laymen in the oil industry, we understand this statement to mean that NNPC will not be the sole marketer of Dangote’s petroleum products. The media equally interpreted it in the same way,”
“This has been a major concern of MURIC because we believe that it will not be in the best interest of poor Nigerians for the products of the only available refinery in the country to be in the hands of a single marketer. Another good clarification made in the NNPC statement is that market will be left ‘open to lower prices from any domestic refinery.
“We urge authorities of both NNPC and Dangote refinery to close the widening gap between them in the interest of the suffering masses.
“We have no doubt that both groups can still work together towards lowering the price of fuel and making the product readily available. An African adage says it is the grass that suffers when two elephants fight,” he stated.
