The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has said that it has no desire or intention to become the sole distributor of Dangote refinery Limited (DRL).
It added that Dangote refinery 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.
It emphasised that there is no guarantee of lower prices associated with domestic refining compared to any global parity pricing framework, as confirmed by the Dangote refinery.
NNPCL Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, made this known in a statement on Saturday while responding to a press release by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) which claims that the Dangote Refinery was being undermined by actions of the NNPCL.
MURIC asserted that recent changes to the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) would prevent the Dangote Refinery from offering lower prices and that NNPCL has become the sole offtaker of all products from the refinery.
Soneye noted: “The pricing of petroleum products from any refinery, including the Dangote Refinery Ltd. (DRL), is determined by global market forces.
“The recent changes in PMS prices have no impact on the DRL or any other domestic refinery’s access to the Nigerian market.
“In fact, if current prices are perceived as high, it presents an ideal opportunity for the refinery to sell its products at lower prices in the Nigerian market.
“The NNPCL will only fully offtake PMS from the DRL if the market prices of PMS are higher than the pump prices in Nigeria.
“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.
“NNPC Ltd. has no desire or intention to become the distributor for any entity in a free market environment, and therefore, the notion of becoming a sole offtaker does not arise.
“The NNPCLcannot undermine a business in which it holds a billion-dollar stake.”
