The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has said that International Oil Companies (IOCs) did not refuse to sell crude oil to the Dangote plant.
This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Engineer Gbenga Komolafe, in an interview with Arise TV on Monday.
According to Komolafe, while the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) requires IOCs and other producers to sell to domestic refineries such as Dangote, crude pricing is determined by willing buyers and sellers.
He stated that, to the commission’s knowledge, the IOCs are making crude oil available to interested buyers, and the product is in abundance.
“Yes, in recognition of the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) that make the supply of crude to domestic refineries obligatory, the commission has enforced that. The issue is not that the IOCs or other producers are refusing to make crude available.
“To the best of the knowledge of the commission, there is nothing like IOCs being too big or not complying with their statutory obligations to make crude oil available.
“Making the crude available is done at a price and the provisions of the law is that it should be done on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis.
“No producer is refusing to make crude available to the Dangote refinery,” Komolafe said.
Recall, Dangote refinery’s management has often accused International Oil Companies (IOCs) of refusing to sell and supply crude oil to the Lagos refinery.
The company stated that this reluctance has forced it to rely on international crude suppliers for its refinery.
The refinery recently imported crude from Brazil, and it intends to broaden its purview to include additional African oil-producing countries as output increases.
Dangote alleged that the federal government is not doing enough to defend the refinery against manipulative pricing by foreign oil corporations.
Recall the federal government had secured an agreement with IOCs via NUPRC to allow crude oil to be sold to domestic refiners at market prices.
