Mohammed Shosanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA),and Dangote Refinery have differed over claims that the latter produces inferior diesel.
The Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA,Farouk Ahmed, has disclosed that the Dangote Refinery and some other refineries in the country produce inferior products compared to imported commodities.
Ahmed had elaborated that in terms of quality, Dangote’s current AGO (diesel) suffers from the lowest quality in terms of sulfur content, falling short of West Africa’s requirement of 50 parts per million (PPM).
“Dangote Refinery, as well as some modular refineries like Watersmith refinery and Aradel refinery are producing between 650 to one 1,200 PPM. Therefore, in terms of quality, their products are inferior to imported ones,” he said.
But,Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) punctured Farouk claims criticizing the quality of its products, adding that its refined diesel is 80% superior to those currently imported into Nigeria.
Image-maker of the company, Anthony Chiejina, said the reports of producing high-sulfur diesel or lesser quality is mischievous and aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the $20 billion refinery.
The allegation was false, baseless, and mischievous,he said,adding that the refinery is designed to produce top-quality petroleum products that meet strict international standards.
He added: “The false and misleading allegations made by some media outlets that DR is producing substandard diesel which is why it reduced the price by 37%, is baseless and mischievous.”
“Until last year, diesel imports into Nigeria were up to 7,000 parts per million (ppm) of Sulphur which has been going on for many years. Our diesel is produced currently at significantly lower levels of Sulphur; as such, we find baseless the allegation that the reason for the reduction is linked to quality. What we are producing is 80% of what is being imported into the country.
“Another inaccurate assertion is that medium level Sulphur diesel is meant for off-road use. This is a completely false statement as this would have invariably meant that all the imports for the last twenty years have been damaging equipment.”
He disclosed that diesel imports for the high Sulphur grade have been at significantly higher prices until DR started operation. If indeed high Sulphur diesel is sold at lower prices, how come the country never saw the lower prices?
Speaking on the aspect of reduction, he said the reason was because Dangote Refinery diesel price was primarily due to the patriotism of the management to the nation as well as prevailing market dynamics supply and demand.
