Dangote Group has debunked reports making the rounds that the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is currently lifting petrol from its refinery at a price of N897 per litre.
The denial was contained in a statement on Thursday by the Group’s Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina.
He noted that the company cannot fix the price of petrol as it has yet to finalise its arrangement with the NNPCL.
The statement reads “Our attention has been drawn to a headline ‘NNPC lifts Dangote Petrol, sells at N897 per litre’ published in the BusinessDay Newspapers of Wednesday, 4 September 2024.
“We would like to state that NNPC has not commenced lifting of refined Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, from our Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
“Therefore, the issue of fixing the price of petrol lifted from our refinery does not arise, as we are yet to finalise our contract with NNPC,” the statement read in part.
The company further pointed out the strictly regulated nature of the oil industry saying “the PMS market is strictly regulated, which is known to all oil marketers and stakeholders in the sector,” and therefore, “we cannot determine, fix, or influence the product price, which falls under the purview of relevant government authorities.”
It urged the public to disregard the erroneous headline and reassured Nigerians of their commitment to transparency and fairness in their operations.
The group further assured Nigerians of high-quality petroleum products, which it said would be available across the country.
On Tuesday, Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, officially announced the commencement of petrol production at his 650,000 BPD refinery.