The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has the sole offtaker of the Dangote Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, disclosed this on Friday in his office in Abuja shortly after the Technical Sub-Committee meeting on the sale of crude oil to local refineries in Naira.
The Minister, who was represented by the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr. Zacch Adedeji, announced that all agreements have been completed and loading of the first batch of PMS from the Dangote Refinery will commence on Sunday, 15th September (tomorrow).
Mr. Edun said, from 1st October, NNPC would commence the supply of about 385 kbpd of crude oil to the Dangote Refinery to be paid for in Naira.
In return, he said, the Dangote Refinery would supply PMS and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market to be paid for in Naira.
According to him, diesel would be sold in Naira by the Dangote Refinery to any interested offtaker.
However, he said, “PMS will only be sold to NNPC, and NNPC will then sell to various marketers for now.”
This has again allayed the fear that NNPC Ltd. would be the sole offtaker of all products from the Dangote Refinery.
Recall that the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) recently raised an alarm that the recent changes to the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) would prevent the Dangote Refinery from offering lower prices and that NNPC Ltd. has become the sole offtaker of all products from the refinery.
The national oil company, however, responded that it would only fully offtake PMS from the DRL if the market prices of PMS are higher than the pump prices in Nigeria.
It said, 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.
