Dangote wants petroleum products imports suspended, says regulator

Farouk Ahmed, chief executive officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, said Dangote Group is requesting that the importation of petroleum products into the country should be suspended.

Ahmed said this on Thursday while addressing journalists in Abuja.

He said: “Dangote refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage. It has not been licensed. We haven’t licensed them yet. I think they are at about 45% 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 of AGO and jet kero, and direct all marketers to the refinery. That is not good for the nation in terms of energy security, and that is not good for markets because of monopoly. 

“In terms of quality, currently the AGO quality in terms of sulphur is the lowest as far as West Africa requirement of 50 ppm. Dangote Refinery, as well as some major refineries like Waltersmith refinery, Aradel refinery, they are producing between 650 to 1,200 ppm. So, in terms of quality, their quality is much inferior than the imported products.”