In order to prevent monopolies and guarantee energy security, the Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that it will continue to import refined petroleum products into the country in tandem with the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s production of the commodities.
It warned against being over-dependent on the $20bn refinery located in the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos, stressing that the demand by the refinery that all oil marketers should buy products from the plant does not support competition.
This came as the House of Representatives constituted an ad-hoc committee to probe allegations of non-supply of crude oil to the Dangote refinery as oil marketers condemned the International Oil Companies operating in Nigeria for not supplying crude to indigenous refiners.
Also commenting on the issue, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission insisted that it was doing a lot to ensure the supply of crude to Dangote refinery and other modular refinery operators, as it vowed to resolve the lingering crisis.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Authority, an agency of the Federal Government, said the government would not stop the importation of petroleum products, saying Nigeria cannot depend on one refinery to feed the nation.
The Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, stated this in Port Harcourt while addressing newsmen, as the video of his address was made available to one of our correspondents on Thursday.
Ahmed also dismissed claims by the Dangote Group that international oil companies were frustrating the refinery by denying the refinery of crude supply, saying that the claim was not so.
He also revealed that the refinery, which had been selling diesel and aviation fuel in Nigeria for months, had not been licensed, stating that the Dangote refinery was still at the pre-commissioning stage.
