Business

Dangote Refinery’s fuel supply won’t crash product price – Marketers, experts

Published

2 years ago

June 25, 2024

389 Views

Ahead of Dangote Refinery’s commencement of Premium Motor Spirit, known as petrol, supply in the Nigerian market, marketers and energy experts in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry have ruled out expectations that it will lead to a price crash.

This comes as the Chairman of the Lagos-based Refinery, Aliko Dangote recently shifted the date to commence fuel supply to mid-July 2024 from its earlier projected June.

The richest in Africa, Dangote, blamed ‘a little bit of delay’, for the shift in the earlier commencement date.

Although the company commenced the supply of Diesel and Aviation Fuel in April, the firm which was commissioned on May 23 last year had continued to struggle to get crude supply for its petrol production.

Dangote had gone further to allege that cartels within the oil and gas sector are sabotaging the firms’ efforts to kick off full-scale.

The firm’s helmsman, speaking at the Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Nassau, the Bahamas and in an interview with CNN, said powerful cartels want his company to fail.

The Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin recently at the weekend accused International accused International Oil Companies in Nigeria of frustrating Dangote Refinery by refusing to sell crude oil. He alleged that IOCs are selling crude oil to Dangote Refinery at a premium price higher by $6 than the market price.

According to him, the development has led Dangote Refinery to look far away to the US to import crude oil to be cracked in Nigeria despite the country’s natural deposit of the product.

Meanwhile, on June 9, 2024, in response to Dangote’s allegation, the Lagos State Chamber of Commerce and Industry blamed oil theft and vandalization of pipelines for the inadequate supply of crude to Dangote by IOCs.

Also, reacting to Dangote’s accusation on the first of June, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, Spokesperson, Mrs. Olaide Shonola said the Commission will ensure IOCs supply crude oil to Dangote Refinery.

However, weeks after NUPRC’s assurance, the Dangote refinery is still insisting that the IOCs not supply crude to the company. This made the commencement date for the supply of fuel to the Nigerian market by Dangote Refinery shaky. Although Dangote insisted on mid-July.

While the debate of challenges facing Dangote Refinery subsists, the possibility of fuel price cuts with the domestic supply of the product has been the fulcrum of concern to Nigerians but some stakeholders believed otherwise.

Recall that upon fuel subsidy removal last year, petrol prices increased to an average of N769.62 per liter in May 2024 from N238 in the same period the previous year.

This development with other policies by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government has pushed Nigeria’s headline and food inflation to 33.95 percent and 40.66 percent. The effect has resulted in the purchasing power of Nigerians and worsened the misery index.

The President of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association, PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry said there is no way the entrance of Dangote refinery’s fuel will crash the price of the product.

According to him, when Dangote Refinery’s Automotive Gas Oil and Aviation fuel entered the Nigerian domestic market there were hopes that the price would crash but it did not.

This is because, despite the Dangote refinery’s announcement of a price cut for diesel for marketers, Nigerians ended up buying the product at N1403.96.

Gillis-Harry, further explained that as long Dangote Refinery exports crude into Nigeria, its fuel price when it commences supply may increase.

“I will tell you that Dangote Refinery when it is fully operational and we do hope that projection is correct, because we have had several projections in the past that never come to pass.

“It becomes difficult to premise our thoughts on projections. When diesel came, we hoped it would be the solution to Automotive Gas Oil, AGO, high prices in the country but we did not see that.

“We have been expecting PMS to be rolled out at Dangote Refinery. If it is rolled out in the Refinery, you will first ask yourself very critical questions, where is he getting crude oil from?

“If he is importing crude from the US to crack in Nigeria, are you expecting the price of PMS to come down? That will also be the same thing we have been doing.

‘You have to source for FX to buy crude oil that he will come to crack in Nigeria and sell fuel in Naira. The foreign exchange will continue to fluctuate. There is no way you will expect that the price of fuel will crash. This said, it is doubtful that Dangote’s fuel will enjoy any form of subsidy by the Federal Government”, he said.

According to him, the reason the fuel pump price stood at N700 per liter is because a subsidy was applied.

“There is nothing like quasi-fuel subsidy, the subsidy is applied, it is applied. The only thing is that Nigerians deserve to know the value of the fuel subsidy spent.

“We can’t be spending Trillions of the commonwealth of Nigeria and we do not know what it is we are spending it for, why we are spending and what is the result when we thought that in the last year, we have not been subsidizing PMS.

“With Dangote’s PMS, I doubt we will enjoy such a subsidy regime. It is selling at a free-market price based on the value of Naira to Dollar at the time. I rather expect that the price of PMS will go up.

“We do hope that quality meets what we are consuming in Nigeria and if that happens, the product should be available. When there is product availability, productivity in different sectors is guaranteed”, he explained.

He said oil marketers don’t have strong confidence in the commencement of Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri Refineries.

“We don’t have strong confidence in the full-scale commencement of Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries.

“Because the commencement date has been shifted so many times. I find it difficult to comment about the refinery kick-off”, he said.

Speaking on whether NNPCL will exit the supply market upon the entrance of the Dangote refinery into the supply of fuel, Gillis-Harry said the chairman of the company is free to prospect his business opportunities.

“He (Dangote) is a businessman, he’s anticipating business opportunities that could give him semi-monopoly, so there is nothing wrong with him speculating and expecting NNPCL to say we are not going to import fuel again,” he noted.

He, however, urged that “the Decision of NNPCL still affects Nigerians and Nigeria’s commonwealth. I anticipate we should have stakeholder input into how some of these decisions are arrived at.

“So NNPCL can say that we are not importing fuel again because now that they are the sole importer we are still having hiccups. What I see is that Dangote Refinery will be a solution to shortfalls in the supply of PMS, not a price cut. Unless it (Price cut) will be a trade entrance strategy”, he said.

High energy cost stifling Nigeria’s economy – Ameh

Meanwhile, the Managing Partner, BBH Consulting and Convener, Public Interest Advocacy Network (PIAN), Barr. Ameh Madaki lamented that the country’s oil sector is badly run.

According to him, the high price of energy is stifling Nigeria’s economy.

He urged that the Dangote Refinery can go ahead to crash the prices of petroleum products.

“The Oil and Gas industry is currently so badly run that no one can effectively predict what the policymakers will do anymore.

“In a fully deregulated sector, the Government has no business setting prices for any product.

“Dangote Refinery has been producing and stockpiling PMS all this while. I strongly advise that Dangote Refinery should go ahead and crash the prices of PMS, DPK and AGO because they can do so.

“The economics doesn’t support a price threshold of N800 to N1,000, as this is outrageous and stifling the economy. The ideal prices of PMS, DPK, AGO and Jet-A1 should not be more than N300 per litre under any circumstance”, he stated.

Blame decision makers for oil sector challenges in Nigeria – Prof Iledare

On his part Wumi Iledare, Professor Emeritus and Executive Director of Emmanuel Egbogah Foundation, faulted decision makers for the challenges facing the oil and gas sector.

“As I have said in many forums recently, that understanding is deeper than knowledge.

“Many decision makers driving the governance of the energy sector oil, gas, and power, in Nigeria, though, may know the sector. Perhaps, the understanding of the complexity of the sector is very delimited.

“So one can be very understanding of the chaos and lack of policy consistency in more recent times.

“Some of us, over the years, have advocated for the decentralization of governance and regulatory institutions of the power sector, which the Electricity Act 2023 recently did. Petroleum Industry Act, PIA 2021 offers similar opportunities calling for deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector.

“Unfortunately, this administration seems to prefer Executive Orders to the Provisions of an Act!

“The truism in all of these irregularities is simply not to expect transactionally informed decisions to translate to sustainable national development. Only transformational ideas and policies can do that”.

Business

Dangote Foundation Takes Over Aliko Dangote Skills Acquisition Centre Kano

Under the agreement, the Foundation will manage the multi-million naira facility for a number of years and operate programmes aimed at equipping young people with technical, digital and industrial skills.

Published

3 hours ago

September 4, 2026

OCHEFA

10 Views

The Aliko Dangote Foundation has taken over the management of the Aliko Dangote Skills Acquisition Centre in Kano state.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Foundation and the Kano State Government, on Friday.

Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Kano-Jigawa Branch, Muhammad Bello Isyaku Umar, described the intervention as “far-reaching and impactful,” saying skills acquisition remained one of the most effective ways of addressing youth unemployment in Nigeria..

“Programmes such as the Aliko Dangote Skill Acquisition Centre can equip young people with practical skills that enable them to become entrepreneurs, artisans or employees. The emphasis should increasingly be on modern technical, digital and industrial skills,” Umar said.

He described Kano as the economic and commercial hub of northern Nigeria and said the Foundation’s interventions across the region had extended to several sectors.

Business

Okin Biscuits Set For Comeback After 17 Years, Targets Revival Of Jobs, Local Manufacturing

Founded in the 1980s by the late Chief Emmanuel Olatunji Adesoye, an illustrious son of Offa, Okin Biscuits grew into a household name with products including Okin Coasters, Shortcake and Okin Cabin Biscuits.

Published

9 hours ago

September 4, 2026

OCHEFA

32 Views

By Ochefa

After 17 years off the shelves, Okin Biscuits, one of Nigeria’s once-popular indigenous biscuit brands, is set to return to production as efforts intensify to revive the Ijagbo, Kwara State-based factory.

The planned comeback marks a significant attempt to restore one of the country’s old manufacturing brands while potentially reopening a major source of employment and economic activity in the community.

At its peak, the company provided direct and indirect employment to more than 2,000 people before production was eventually halted in 2009.

The shutdown reflected some of the structural problems that have continued to undermine Nigeria’s manufacturing sector, including harsh operating conditions, intense competition, inadequate infrastructure, vandalism and the theft of critical production equipment.

With the factory no longer producing, its products gradually disappeared from retail outlets and homes in Kwara, Lagos and other parts of the country.

Factory Undergoing Major Rehabilitation

However, the industrial facility is now showing signs of renewed activity.

A visit to the factory in Ijagbo showed that extensive rehabilitation work is underway across the complex.

The main factory building, which houses the production machinery, as well as the administrative block and other facilities, are undergoing comprehensive renovation.

The premises have already assumed a significantly different appearance, suggesting that the revival project has moved beyond plans and into physical reconstruction.

The management recently announced through its official Facebook page that production machinery was being test-run.

It said biscuits rolled off one of the rehabilitated production lines on August 25, 2026, marking the first production from the factory in 17 years.

The development is significant not merely as the return of a nostalgic consumer brand, but as an example of how the rehabilitation of abandoned industrial assets could contribute to renewed domestic production and employment.

For Nigeria, where manufacturers continue to contend with high energy and logistics costs, infrastructure constraints, foreign exchange pressures and strong competition from imported products, the reopening of an existing manufacturing facility could offer a potentially faster route to industrial capacity expansion than building an entirely new factory.

Community Backs Revival

…biscuits rolled off one of the rehabilitated production lines on August 25, 2026, marking the first production from the factory in 17 years.

The planned resuscitation has also attracted strong support from the Offa community.

The Aare Bobaselu of Offa, Chief Abdulatif Adekunle Ajeigbe, described the development as “heartwarming,” linking it to the broader Offa Mega City project championed by the Olora of Offa, Oba Muftau Mohammed Gbadamisi, Esuwoye II.

According to him, members of the community had made several efforts to revive the moribund factory, including exploring the possibility of group financing.

“We did our best to see that the factory came back to life, but it was the children of the late Asiwaju of Offa and the founder of the factory, Chief Emmanuel Olatunji Adesoye, who insisted on carrying on their father’s legacy through the factory,” he said.

Ajeigbe commended the founder’s children for their determination to preserve the family’s industrial legacy and bring the factory back into operation.

More Than A Brand Revival

The return of Okin Biscuits also highlights the wider economic value embedded in Nigeria’s abandoned industrial assets.

The company’s earlier success created employment not only within the factory but across its supply and distribution networks, including raw-material suppliers, transporters, distributors, retailers and other service providers.

A successful reopening could therefore have an economic impact extending beyond the factory gates, particularly if production eventually returns to significant capacity.

The bigger test, however, will be whether the revived company can operate sustainably in an increasingly competitive Nigerian consumer market.

The new investors will have to contend with production costs, energy supply, distribution challenges, consumer purchasing power and competition from both established domestic manufacturers and imported brands.

For Okin, the challenge is therefore not simply to restart the machines, but to build a commercially viable manufacturing operation capable of sustaining production, protecting jobs and reclaiming market share.

If successful, the return of Okin Biscuits could become more than a nostalgic homecoming for Nigerian consumers.

It could provide a practical demonstration that some of the country’s dormant industrial assets can be rehabilitated, modernised and returned to productive use.

After 17 years of silence, the sound of Okin’s production lines running again may therefore signal the beginning of a new chapter for one of Nigeria’s forgotten manufacturing brands.

Business

Dangote to launch Refinery’s IPO September 14 or 16

Dangote disclosed this on Thursday while speaking to investors and analysts in Botswana.

Published

10 hours ago

September 4, 2026

OCHEFA

20 Views

Aliko Dangote, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Dangote Group, says the initial public offering (IPO) of Dangote refinery will open in the next 10 to 12 days.

Dangote disclosed this on Thursday while speaking to investors and analysts in Botswana.

The refinery had announced plans to launch a Pan-African IPO, offering at least 10 percent of its refining business to fund a $40 billion expansion objective.

On August 18, the refinery said it had completed a $1 billion underwriting programme ahead of the planned IPO.

Speaking during his visit to the southern African country, Dangote said his ambition was to double the refinery’s capacity.“So our dream is that we want to make sure we double the capacity of the refinery… which will take us to 1.4 million barrels per day. The IPO will open in the next 10 to 12 days,” he said.