"We're Yet To Finalize Contract With NNPC" - Dangote Group Clarifies Status of Contract with NNPC Amidst Price Reporting

Dangote Group has issued a clarification regarding its contractual relationship with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in response to recent reports about petrol prices.

In a statement released on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, Anthony Chiejina, Chief Branding and Communications Officer at Dangote Group, addressed a misleading headline that appeared in the BusinessDay Newspapers, which suggested that NNPC was lifting petrol from Dangote’s refinery and selling it at N897 per litre.

Chiejina clarified that NNPC has not yet begun lifting Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. As such, there is no price determination for the petrol from the refinery at this time, since the contract between Dangote Group and NNPC has not been finalized.

“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,” Chiejina stated.

“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.”

The statement further highlighted that the pricing of PMS is regulated by government authorities and is outside the control of Dangote Group or any oil marketers.

“Therefore, the issue of fixing the price of petrol lifted from our refinery does not arise, as we are yet to finalize our contract with NNPC,” Chiejina added.

“The PMS market is strictly regulated, which is known to all oil marketers and stakeholders in the sector, hence we can not determine, fix, or influence the product price, which falls under the purview of relevant government authorities.”