Aliko Dangote, founder and president/chief executive of the Dangote Group on Monday said his refinery will continue to reduce the price of petrol to compete with importers.
Mr Dangote disclosed this in an interview with the State House Correspondents after meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Aso Rock.
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“Prices are going down. The reason why prices have to go down, we have to also compete with imports,” Mr Dangote said.
In recent months, Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining price stability for petrol, despite global crude oil price fluctuations.
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On 6 November the refinery reduced its petrol gantry price from N877 to N828 per litre, representing a 5.6 per cent decrease, and its coastal price from N854 to N806 per litre.
Speaking further, Mr Dangote said smuggling remains a major challenge.
“But luckily for us now, the smuggling has not reduced totally. There is still quite a lot of smuggling because the price we have in Nigeria is about 55 per cent lower than the price of our neighboring countries.”
He explained that no matter how tightly the borders are policed, smuggling will continue because of the significant profits, with fuel selling for nearly N1,500 to N1,600 per litre compared to domestic prices of about N800 per litre.
“So it doesn’t matter how you police the borders, people will still smuggle because there’s so much money to be made,” he added.
Mr Dangote assured that petroleum products both diesel and petrol “will continue to be sold in the market at a very reasonable price. We are not here to make our $20 billion back quickly, it’s a long term investment,” he added.
The business mogul explained that the Naira for crude policy is a win-win situation for Nigeria.
“I must thank His Excellency, Mr President, for having that genius thinking. We are doing the naira for crude and the ministerial committee is actually doing a great job. Yes, it is not really well disturbed. The area where we’re having a challenge is getting the crude.
“Nigeria crude sells at a premium, and so some of the international oil companies are not really ready and willing to sell for us. It’s a teething problem, which I believe will be addressed either in the new budget to the government,” he stated.
Mr Dangote added that the refinery had notified the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) of its capacity to supply 50 million litres of petrol daily.
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“Nigeria has been having fuel queues since 1972 and we have actually removed those queues. It’s not about actually relying on imports. For the first time, we’re actually suppliers to Europe and the US. By February, we’ll be able to supply about 15 to 20 million liters more than the consumption of Nigeria. So we still have to export,” he said.
Speaking on the future expansion plans, Mr Dangote said by 2028, the company is going to make the refinery the largest in the world.
“We are going to beat India’s Reliance. Reliance is 1.25 million barrels per day; we will be at 1.4 million barrels per day. We have already signed the necessary agreements, and we will begin piling for the expansion by January. It will be delivered on time,” he said.
