Trucks at the Dangote Refinery in Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos State have started lifting Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, on Sunday.
This was disclosed in a video posted via the X account of Dangote Group on Sunday.
This marks a significant step in the refinery’s operations.
The tweet read, “First set of trucks set for loading of PMS at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.”
It was earlier reported that the national oil firm, in a tweet on Saturday, noted that hundreds of trucks would be deployed to the refinery today (Sunday) for PMS loading.
The NNPC stated, “In preparation for the Dangote Refinery’s scheduled petrol loading on Sunday, 15th September 2024, NNPC Ltd has been mobilising trucks to the refinery’s fuel loading gantry in Ibeju-Lekki. As of Saturday afternoon, NNPC Ltd had deployed over 100 trucks, with hundreds more en route.”
Recall NNPC had last week said it was not the sole off-taker of products from the Dangote refinery, adding that the refinery was free to sell its petrol to any marketers of choice.
However, a week after the statement, the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, noted that interested marketers would have to buy the product from the national oil firm through its trading company.
He said, “I am glad to announce that all agreements have been put in place, and the loading of the first batch of PMS, as already announced by NNPC, will commence on Sunday, September 15, 2024. And from October 1, NNPC will commence the supply of crude oil to the Dangote refinery to be paid in naira.
“In return, Dangote refinery will supply PMS and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market to be paid in naira. But for now, PMS will only be sold to NNPC. NNPC will then sell to various marketers.”
Meanwhile, Marketers have called for direct access to PMS from the Dangote Refinery, criticizing the NNPC’s dominant control over the market. They argue that greater access to the refinery’s output would improve competition and market efficiency.
