The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has debunked speculation that it has been sabotaging the efforts of Dangote Refinery.
Rather, the company said it no longer imports refined petroleum and now sources fuel from Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other domestic refineries in the country.
The group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, Mele Kyari, made this known at the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists’ conference in Lagos.
Aliko Dangote, founder and President/Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, had lamented that NNPCL and other oil marketers had shunned its refinery and focused on importing petroleum products.
Dangote had said his refinery has more than 500 million litres of petrol in stock, which is more than enough to serve Nigeria if retailers buy from it.
Speaking in Abuja recently, the business mogul had queried why state-owned NNPC and private retailers were still importing petrol when his refinery could produce enough.
A few days later, Kyari claimed that NNPC does not import any product, maintaining that it is sourcing entirely from domestic refineries.
Addressing rumours that NNPC was undermining the Dangote refinery by refusing to sell crude in naira, Kyari explained that there is no sabotage, adding that buying and selling in naira versus dollars makes no difference to the company.
According to the NNPCL boss, local sourcing will reduce Nigeria’s reliance on foreign exchange and tackle inflation pressures from fuel imports.
Acknowledging Nigeria’s broader energy challenges, Kyari said over 50 percent of the population lacks electricity access, and 70 percent lacks access to clean fuel.
He then stressed that NNPC is tasked with ensuring domestic energy supply and recently settled a $2.4 billion cash-call debt to international oil companies.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had recently revealed that Nigeria spends around N2 trillion monthly on fuel imports, suggesting that transitioning to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) could save Nigeria this cost and make funds available for critical investments.