KEY POINTS
- Dangote restricts petrol sales to six licensed importers.
- Imported PMS made up 43% of July supply.
- Court temporarily blocked NMDPRA from disrupting refinery operations.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has moved to restrict the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, to six major oil marketers that currently hold active import licences from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The affected companies are Matrix Energy, A.A. Rano, AYM Shafa, NIPCO, Pinnacle Oil and Gas, and Bono Energy.
The six firms were among the companies authorised by NMDPRA in May to import a combined 720,000 metric tonnes of petrol into Nigeria. Their individual allocations reportedly ranged from 60,000 to 150,000 tonnes.
Sources familiar with the refinery’s position said Dangote intends to prioritise domestic petrol supplies to marketers that are not licensed to import the product. This could mean that the six companies would increasingly depend on imported cargoes to meet their supply needs.
Refinery raises concerns over rising petrol imports
The decision comes as Dangote Refinery intensifies its push for greater reliance on locally refined petroleum products.
Despite the increased production capacity of the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery, imported petrol reportedly accounted for about 43 per cent of Nigeria’s total PMS supply in July.
The refinery has repeatedly expressed concern that the continued inflow of imported petrol could weaken the market for locally refined products and discourage investment in Nigeria’s refining industry.
Dangote has argued that the country’s growing refining capacity should translate into greater use of locally produced petroleum products, particularly as domestic refineries expand their output
Quality concerns add to refinery’s position
Beyond competition, sources said Dangote’s decision is also linked to concerns about the quality of imported petrol entering the Nigerian market.
The refinery is reportedly concerned about the possibility of imported PMS being blended with locally refined petrol before distribution. Such practices could make it difficult to determine the origin of products reaching consumers.
According to the sources, this creates a potential reputational problem for Dangote Refinery because complaints over the quality of blended products could ultimately be associated with its locally produced petrol.
The refinery has also questioned whether Nigeria’s existing regulatory infrastructure has sufficient capacity to independently test and verify every imported PMS cargo before the products enter the domestic market.
The latest decision could create a clearer divide between marketers that rely on domestic refining and those that continue to participate in the import market.
Dangote Refinery could increasingly concentrate its petrol supplies on marketers without active import licences, while the six affected companies may have to source a larger proportion of their products from international markets.
Such a development could intensify competition between imported and locally refined petrol at a time when oil marketers are already dealing with changes in crude oil prices, foreign exchange costs and international supply conditions.
