The Dangote Refinery, on Tuesday disowned remarks by some oil marketers that it was set to begin the sale of petrol at about N600 to N650 per litre of the product.
The 650,000 barrels per day facility located in Lagos, in a statement by the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, stated that it had not entered into any form of communication with the oil marketers concerning pricing of petrol.
Urging the public to desist from speculative announcements, the management of the Dangote Refinery stressed that it had never discussed the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol with the marketers.
“We have not fixed Petrol Price.
Our attention has been drawn to headlines announcing “Marketers Project N600/litre for Dangote Petrol” published on August 13, 2024.
“We would like to clarify that Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) is not our business partner yet.
“We have never discussed price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) with them, and they have no mandate or authority to speak for us, either for good or with hidden transcript.”
The Independent Petroleum Marketers in Nigeria (IPMAN), according to a report on Tuesday had said they were hoping that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery will sell its petrol at N600 or N650/litre when it is finally released into the market this month.
Dealers under the umbrella of the organisation said they believed that the Dangote refinery would crash the price of petrol as it did with diesel when it begins operating as expected.
The report quoted the IPMAN National Vice President, Hammed Fashola, as saying that the $20 billion refinery would bring down the cost of fuel if it gets the needed support, especially as it has to do with crude supply.
According to him, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) which is currently the sole importer of petrol had been selling to marketers at N570/litre, but most IPMAN members buy from private depot owners at N700 and above.
However, in the statement late on Tuesday, the Dangote Refinery stated that it has its own media of communication outlet if it wanted to reach its audience, pointing out that IPMAN was not the company’s spokesman.
“We urge the public to desist from such speculative announcements. We have our official channels through which we make our views known to our stakeholders,” the statement released on Tuesday explained.