Featured, Oil & Gas
...as dangote debunks NMDPRA’s allegations
…says license approved for Dangote refinery in March 2024
By Anthony Isibor
PROF. Femi Olufumilade, director, Buratai Center for Contemporary Security Affairs, Igbenidion University, Okada, has accused those demarketing the products of Dangote refinery of sabotaging the growth of the Nigerian oil and gas sector.
Prof. Olufumilade made the accusation in response to a statement by Farouk Ahmed, chief executive officer, CEO, of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, who claimed that imported crude was of higher quality compared to those refined by the Dangote refinery and other local refineries because of their high sulphur component.
Ahmed, in an interview showed on television last week, also alleged that Dangote wanted to become a monopoly by being the sole producer of petroleum products, adding that the refinery was not even licenced yet.
However, Olufumilade declared that Ahmed’s statement was God’s way of exposing those holding the country to ransom and called on president Ahmed Tinubu to shake up the NNPC management immediately and sack everyone involved.
He also noted that Ahmed’s statement shows that he is an arrow head of the cabal that is holding onto the jugular of the country through perpetual importation of refined oil and doesn’t want to let go.
Prof. olufunmilade’s, in a viral video, said:
“I just watched a disturbing video in which a man who is supposed to be a senior official of the NNPC talking down on the Dangote Refinery and other local refineries that their products are inferior to other imported refined products. That to me should earn that man a sack because he doesn’t portray the administration of President Bola Tinubu in a good light. He alleged that Dangote wants to be a monopoly.
“The way to stop it from being a monopoly is to fix the Port Harcourt Refinery, the Warri Refinery, and the Kaduna Refinery so that there can be a competition. What is the NNPC doing about that. And for this man to say that importing refined products is the way forward, that imported oil is better, is of a higher quality, that the sulfur content is lower compared to that of Dangote is a gratuitous insult on our collective intelligence.
“It shows that it is an arrow head of the cabal that are holding onto the jugular of this country through perpetual importation of refined oil and they don’t want to let go. So, I think that man deserves a sack and maybe others that are in cohort with him in NNPC, they deserve a sack. The reason I say they deserve a sack is that; I make an extrapolation that we will perpetually be importing refined products with people of that calibre holding forth at the NNPC.
“President Tinubu needs to wake up, smell the coffee, and show those people a way out of the NNPC otherwise he is not going to achieve anything remarkable in the oil sector. Common sense tells us that when we produce and refine locally, we are going to spend less, and our foreign exchange will be largely preserved. But here is somebody telling us that the imported variety is the best for now, meaning that the little foreign exchange that comes in through diaspora remittance and whatever little they are selling at the NNPC should be thrown out there to import refined products.
“He also said that the Dangote Refinery is at a pre-licencing stage, that it has not been licenced. What does it take to licence it, are they not producing diesel already, and dangote said the diesel will be sold at not more than N1000 per litre. Maybe that is what is making them unhappy because the one they import is going to be at a higher price because we were paying a higher price for their imported variety before.
“So, I think this is God bringing out the people that are holding us to ransom in the country and I am calling on president Ahmed Tinubu to shake up the NNPC management immediately otherwise there will be loss of public confidence in his government’s capacity to give us a new lease of life in the oil sector .
“The amount we are even paying now for petrol is at the root of the ravaging poverty in the land to a great extent aside the fall in the value of the Naira in an import dependent economy because everything depends on oil.
“The person that has that barbing salon is using oil to power his generator, the same thing with that woman that is grinding pepper in the market place, that is grinding corn, it is the same for the welder who needs it to power his generator too, what about transportation, moving food from the farms and the food producing rural areas; the cost of transportation has quadrupled. That is why food is expensive to a great extent.”
Also, reacting, Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group, on Saturday, July 20, dismissed Ahmed’s allegations when lawmakers visited the refinery in Lagos.
During the lawmakers’ visit, the delegation led by Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house of representative and his deputy Benjamin Kalu, observed a credibility analysis at the refinery’s laboratory to assess the quality of the diesel product.
The test revealed that the diesel sample, commonly known as AGO, measured 87.6 parts per million (PPM). Under ECOWAS regulations, the proposed limit for all imported diesel is 50 PPM, while for locally produced diesel from refineries within the ECOWAS region, the limit is set at 200 PPM until December 2024. From January 2025, stricter standards will be enforced.
“I want to plead with the regulator to come at any time, whether Sunday or Monday, or take the sample and I guarantee you before he gets here, , our PPM will be even below 10,” Dangote said.
Contrary to Ahmed’s allegations, the Dangote refinery’s diesel production is facilitated by the Mile Hydrocracking Unit.
Dangote had also announced that the NMDPRA accredited and approved the Dangote Refinery Laboratory in March 2024
However, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas expressed surprise at the contradictory statements from the NMDPRA, which had certified the refinery’s operations as meeting requirements, and reports suggesting the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) was unhappy with the product quality.
Abbas highlighted the need to investigate these contradictions and determine if there are any ulterior motives. In response, Dangote asserted that imported products endorsed by regulatory agencies had failed quality tests at their laboratory. He accused some laboratories of being influenced to produce specific results, suggesting an independent approach where samples are purchased from various filling stations for unbiased testing.
Abbas asked if Dangote would agree to have his products subjected to further tests.
Dangote proposed that a team, including the CEO of NMDPRA and a representative from the Dangote refinery, should conduct tests on samples from different filling stations to ensure accuracy and transparency.
Meanwhile, the Dangote refinery is set to achieve a production level of 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year, which is 85% of its total capacity.
However, due to insufficient domestic crude supplies, the refinery is increasingly relying on crude imports.
Dangote revealed that the 650,000-bpd capacity refinery, the largest in Africa, had only received five crude cargoes from the NNPC since it began operations earlier this year, falling short of the 15 cargoes it had anticipated
“That is why we went ahead and bought some Brazilian crude, we also got US crude. Anytime we go to IOCs (international oil companies) they say go to brokers,” Dangote stated. He further noted that brokers were charging a $4 mark-up per barrel of crude.”
A.I
July 21, 2024 @ 11:56 GMT|
Tags: Aliko Dangote Dangote refinery Farouk Ahmed NMDPRA Prof. Femi Olufumilade
