Dangote refineries plan supply to150,000 IPMAN stations
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The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is to supply fuel to about 150,000 retail outlets operated by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria following a meeting between the management of the refinery and executives of IPMAN.
Last week Monday, The PUNCH exclusively reported that IPMAN had scheduled a meeting with the management of Dangote refinery as regards the supply of products to independent marketers.
When contacted on Friday evening to confirm if the meeting was held, the President, IPMAN, Abubakar Maigandi, stated that the association had finally met with the management of the refinery, adding that the latter agreed to supply products to the over 30,000 members of IPMAN.
This came as it was further gathered that the regulator of the downstream oil sector was currently examining the refined products from the refinery before the facility would be given approval to dispense fuel to the market.
The PUNCH had also reported on Monday that seven major oil marketers in Nigeria had registered with the refinery for the lifting and distribution of refined petroleum products produced by the $20bn plant.
The report stated that dealers under the aegis of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria confirmed on Sunday that with the registration, they would commence the distribution of fuel produced from the facility once the commercial terms were sorted.
The seven major marketers include 11 Plc, Conoil Plc, Ardova Plc, MRS Oil Nigeria Plc, OVH Energy Marketing Limited, Total Nigeria Plc and NNPC Retail.
“The refinery design complies with the World Bank, US EPA, European emission norms, and Department of Petroleum Resources emission/effluent norms, employing state-of-the-art technology,” the company had stated in a statement.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Project, a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited, is a 650,000 barrels per day crude oil refinery, located in Dangote Industries Free Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is an industrial plant that transforms crude oil into various usable petroleum products such as diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, and kerosene.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery with a capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day covers an area of approximately 2,635 hectares in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.
Regulators examine products
Officials of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources said the regulator of the downstream oil sector had been visiting the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to carry out the processes required to issue regulatory approvals before the release of diesel and aviation fuel into the market.
The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, had stated on Friday that the products would be released to the market after regulatory approvals.
“We have started the production of diesel and aviation fuel, and the products will be in the market within this month once we receive regulatory approvals. This is a big day for Nigeria.
“We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone. This is an important achievement for our country as it demonstrates our ability to develop and deliver large capital projects. This is a game changer for our country, and I am very fulfilled with the actualisation of this project,” Dangote had stated.
When asked whether the regulatory approvals had been issued to the facility to release products into the market, an official of the petroleum ministry replied in the negative.
The official, who pleaded not to be named due to lack of authorisation, was, however, quick to state that the process was ongoing, as officials from the NMDPRA had been visiting the plant.
“There is no licence yet. But it is in the process because the licence is not just issued like that. There are things that should be done, and these things must be completed, and they (regulatory officials) are there right now as we speak.
“The issuance of a licence goes through a process. So we have to go through that process. But it is said that the products are to be in the market before the end of this month and so before it comes to market, it is expected that they would have issued it,” the source stated.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the Dangote refinery in May 2023. The facility missed its crude oil refining target a number of times due to the non-supply of crude to the plant by oil producers.
