The truce meeting brokered by the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, to resolve the heated dispute between the Dangote Refinery on one hand and state-run entities, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA), has failed to resolve the contentious issue of crude supply to the former’s new 650, 000bpd refinery, THEWILL can report.
Africa’s richest man and industrialist, Aliko Dangote and his company had alleged sabotage and conspiracy against the $20bn Dangote Refinery by key officials in the NNPC, international oil companies and the regulatory agencies, who they claimed would rather continue their corruption-ridden importation of poorly refined petroleum products into the country instead of ensuring that the Dangote Refinery gets adequate crude oil for its plant, which started producing and selling very low sulphur diesel and Jet fuel some weeks ago to both local and international buyers.
THEWILL’s authoritative source, who was privy to the deliberations at the meeting, which was held at the Minister’s office in Abuja on Monday, said, “The summary of what transpired is that the meeting was a waste of time. The NNPC, NMDPRA, NURPC said they do not have crude oil to supply the Dangote Refinery and appear not to be interested in doing so under any arrangement anytime soon. They would rather continue their imports at the expense of the Nigerian people.”
“It appeared they just wanted a photo ops to douse the anger of the Nigerian people following the damaging revelations that have emerged since the dispute became public,” the source who spoke to THEWILL on the condition of being anonymous, added.
Mr. Dangote represented his group at the meeting, while Mr. Farouk Ahmed, the CEO of the NMDPRA, who falsely claimed the Dangote Refinery produces poor quality products without evidence, represented his agency. Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, the Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Mr. Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL represented their entities.
It is unclear when the parties would meet again as both the Senate and the House of Representatives have commissioned an investigation into the quality of diesel imported into the country by the NNPC after tests at the Dangote Refinery chemical laboratory revealed that the diesel were of very poor quality with sulphur levels reaching 2, 000ppm (parts per million).
