In this article, Oil marketers said they await the supply of fuel by the Dangote refinery which started production weeks ago.
On Monday, oil marketers bring into the open that they are still waiting for the supply of refined petroleum products from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, weeks after the launch of production at the multi-billion-dollar plant.
Dangote refinery has previously announced that it had commenced the production of Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, and aviation fuel or JetA1.
The Chairman Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, in a statement issued by his firm at the time, thanked President Bola Tinubu for his support, encouragement, and thoughtful advice towards the actualization of the project.
He also thanked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NMDPRA and Nigerians for their support and belief in the historic project, as he revealed that the facility would pump out diesel and aviation fuel in January, subject to regulatory approvals.
The firm had also registered independent and major oil marketers to start lifting products from the plant, but operators in the sector stated on Monday that nothing of such had commenced yet.
“They have not called us up till now,” the National President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, stated when contacted on Monday.
He added, “However, we are still optimistic that they will call us to come and start lifting products. It is when we start loading that we can talk about the price and others.
“So, for now we are awaiting their call and we assure Nigerians that once we start loading products from there, it is going to get to the over 30,000 filling stations operated by IPMAN members across the country.”
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Multiple sources at both the Abuja headquarters and Lagos regional office of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the regulator of Nigeria’s midstream and downstream oil sector, had confirmed that the process for the release of regulatory approvals was still ongoing at the time.
“Definitely before any release of products is made, approvals must have been granted and this is being worked. The appropriate department is working out the approvals.
“We cannot tell you exactly what these approvals consist of. But the fact is that for Dangote refinery to release products, the requisite approvals must be granted, because the regulator needs to look at the quality of the products, whether they (products) meet specifications, etc, before they are being released to the market.
“So, the approvals are being worked on. However, I cannot give you the date when it is going to be completed, but just know that the process is ongoing and I’ll brief you on an updated position,” an official, who pleaded not to be named due to lack of authorization, stated.
Also, oil marketers told our correspondent that they had yet to receive the commercial terms for the supply of products from the facility, stressing that this was still being awaited.
Meanwhile, speaking on the visible queues in parts of Abuja and neighboring states on Monday, Maigandi attributed it to supply challenges in the downstream oil sector and not a serious problem.