Dangote refinery’s products inferior, yet to be licensed for operation — NMDPRA

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority has disclosed that the Dangote Refinery is selling substandard products.

The Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, who spoke with State House Correspondents in Abuja,  Thursday, said the refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage and has not been licensed to begin operations in the country.

He also debunked claims that the regulatory body was attempting to scuttle the operations of the private refinery owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, due to lack of crude oil supply from International Oil Companies.

He said: “There are lots of concerns about the supply of petroleum products nationwide and the claims by some media houses that we were trying to scuttle Dangote Refinery.

That is not so.

“Dangote Refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage.

“It has not been licensed yet.

“We have not licensed them yet.”

Ahmed disclosed further that Dangote Refinery had requested the authority to suspend or stop all importation of petroleum products, which he noted was not considered as it would promote monopoly in the market and not good for the nation in terms of energy security.

He said: “I think they are at about 45 percent completion.

“So we cannot rely heavily on one refinery to feed the nation because Dangote is requesting that we should suspend or stop all importation of petroleum products, especially automotive gas oil or jet kero and direct all marketers to the refinery.”

Highlighting concerns about the quality of petroleum products produced by Dangote Refinery, Ahmed stated that the quality is inferior to imported commodities.

He added: “So, in terms of quality, currently, the AGO quality in terms of sulphur is the lowest as far as a West African requirement of 50 ppm.

“Dangote Refinery, as well as some major refineries, like Walter Smith’s refinery, other refineries, they produce 650 to 1,200 ppm.

“So, in terms of quality, their quality is much, much inferior to the imported commodities.”