Owner of the Lagos-based refinery, Aliko Dangote, addressed the pricing of petrol produced at his 650,000 barrels-per-day facility on Tuesday.
He stated that once his company finalizes the necessary arrangements with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the product will be available on the market.
“Our PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) can be in filling stations within the next 48 hours depending on NNPCL,” he said.
Asked to speak on the pricing of petrol from his refinery, Dangote said, “It is an arrangement which is designed and approved by the Federal Executive Council led by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“As soon as it is finalised, which he (Tinubu) is pushing, once we finish with NNPC, it can be today, it can be tomorrow, we are ready to roll into the market.
He declared that “it’s a celebration day” for Nigerians and assured all citizens that they “are now going to have good petrol while the engines of your vehicles will last longer. You will not be having an engine issue, which a lot of us were having. It won’t happen at all”.
“The quality here will match that of anywhere in the world; US, America, we will make sure that nobody will beat us in terms of quality,” Dangote said.
Last December, Dangote, Africa’s leading industrialist, began operations at his $20 billion refinery in Lagos, initially processing 350,000 barrels per day.
The refinery, which initially faced regulatory hurdles, aims to reach its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year. It has already started supplying diesel and aviation fuel to local marketers and is now producing petrol.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, faces significant energy challenges, with all state-owned refineries currently non-operational.
The country heavily depends on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) being the primary importer of these essential commodities.
Fuel shortages are common, and since the removal of the subsidy in May 2023, petrol prices have tripled from around ₦200 per litre to about ₦800 per litre.
This has added to the difficulties faced by citizens who rely on petrol to power their vehicles and generators, given the country’s longstanding issues with unreliable electricity supply.