NMDPRA: Dangote refinery at pre-commissioning stage, product quality inferior

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says Dangote Oil Refinery and Petrochemicals in the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos State is still at the pre-commissioning stage and has not yet been licensed.

NMDPRA also debunked allegations by the refinery that its operations are being scuttled by a lack of supply of crude oil by International Oil Companies (IOCs).

The Star recalls that the Vice President, Oil and Gas, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin, on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, insisted that IOCs operating in Nigeria have consistently frustrated the company’s requests for locally produced crude as feedstock for its refining process.

“The trading arm of one of the IOCs refused to sell to us directly and asked us to find a middleman who will buy from them and then sell to us at a margin. We dialogued with them for nine months and in the end, we had to escalate to NUPRC who helped resolve the situation,” Edwin said.

Dangote refinery: IOCs frustrating crude purchase

Reacting, the NMDPRA Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed, while speaking to State House correspondents in Abuja on Thursday, July 18, described the allegations as false.

Ahmed said: “Well, just like you rightly asked, there are lots of concerns about the supply of petroleum products nationwide and the claims by some media houses that we were trying to scuttle the Dangote refinery; that is not so.

“Dangote refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage. It has not been licenced yet. We have not licensed them yet. I think they are at about 45 per cent completion.

“So we cannot rely heavily on one refinery to feed the nation because Dangote is requesting that we should suspend or stop all importation of petroleum products, especially automotive gas oil (AGO) or jet kero and direct all marketers to the refinery.”

The NMDPRA boss further stated that the expectation is not good for Nigeria in terms of energy security and bad for markets because of monopoly.

He added: “So, in terms of quality, currently, the AGO quality in terms of sulphur is the lowest as far as West Africa’s requirement of 50 parts per million.

“Dangote refinery as well as some major refineries like Waltersmith refinery produce between 650 ppm to 1,200 ppm. So, in terms of quality, their quality is much more inferior to the imported quality.”

The Star