Fuel Marketers Deny Importation of Substandard Products 

Fuel Marketers under the auspices of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) have denied involvement in the importation of dirty petroleum products in the country.

The denial is coming after the management of Dangote Industries Limited blamed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for granting licenses indiscriminately to marketers to import what they described as ‘dirty refined products’ into the country.

Instead, the marketers alleged that the Automated Gas Oil (AGO) also called diesel from Dangote refinery has been classified as dirty.

The association, in a statement, stated that, no member of the group or private fuels depot has imported into the country any fuel with specification that is outside the regulation other than what is currently approved by NMDPRA.

DAPPMAN said, the information from the Dangote Refinery Management is laced with inaccuracies.

In its narration, DAPPMAN recalled that, between February and May 2024, the NMDPRA had allowed AGO imports with maximum sulphur content of 200 parts per million (ppm) and this was followed by another move, by the regulator, to fast forward the country target date of the implementation of the 50/ppm sulphur limitation on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also called petrol and AGO imports, from 31st December 2024 to 1st June 2024, thereby, limiting all marketers and depots’ AGO source to Dangote Refinery even though the latter was yet to install its desulphurisation equipment as the sulphur in its blends of AGO presently exceed 50/ppm.

This again, it said, was resisted by DAPPMAN in its letter to the NMDPRA which was dated 10th June 2024 to warn and alert the regulator not to ‘inadvertently promote and introduce a monopoly into the sector.

With stiff resistance at every attempt at introducing a Dangote Refinery monopoly into the downstream, and the fact that the latter, despite its most recent production of AGO with sulphur contents reported at 1200/ppm, the association expressed shock that the management of Dangote Industries (including the Dangote Refinery), who are very much aware of these facts, could claim that the NMDPRA has been granting licenses indiscriminately to marketers to import ‘dirty refined products’ into the country.

Their current blend of AGO, with reported sulphur contents of 1200/ppm, the stressed, is technically classified as ‘dirty fuel’ and grossly in excess of the 200/ppm imported by any marketer or depot owner.

The depot operators noted that, the downstream regulatory authority in the very recent past, had initially objected to offtakes by its daughter vessels from import mother vessels, via Ship-to-ship operations which usually take place offshore Lome, a move which was vehemently protested and resisted by downstream operators and has been rescinded.

The association noted with concerns that Dangote refinery. as a business entity. is free to adopt any model that suits its management, however, its current practice of cheaper bulk sales prices to international buyers at the detriment of Nigerian buyers calls to question their patriotism to the country.

Several Nigerian marketers had in recent past been offered Dangote Refinery cargoes by international trading firms at rates that are very much lower than what they were directly offered by Dangote Refinery, and this will not be in the interest of the Nigerian fuel end-user, it said.

The Association said there is no doubt that the success of Dangote Refinery will be a thing of pride to the nation, but all downstream operators and their activities must be in tandem with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 which abhors ‘monopoly’ of any sort.

Meanwhile, our Correspondent reports that the federal government has reduced the sulphur cap on refined oil product imports to 50 ppm according to market participants.

The new cap which took effect at the start of June, according to sources — marks a sharp reduction from a previous 200 ppm limit set on March 1.