Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) has denied importing dirty fuel into Nigeria.
This is even as they alleged that the diesel from Dangote Refinery contains more sulphur than imported one.
DAPPMAN Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, stated this in a statement while reacting to claims by the management of Dangote Refinery that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had been granting licenses indiscriminately to marketers to import what they described as dirty refined products into the country.
He stated that no member of the association and indeed, no private fuel depot had imported any fuel with specification outside of the regulation other than what is currently approved by the NMDPRA into the country.
DAPPMAN noted that the downstream regulatory authority has recently objected to offtakes by its daughter vessels from import mother vessels, via ship-to-ship operations which usually take place offshore Lome, a move it said was vehemently protested and resisted by downstream operators until it was rescinded.
The depot owners association said further that, “With stiff resistance at every attempt at introducing a Dangote Refinery monopoly into the downstream, and the fact that the latter, despite its most recent production of AGO with sulphur contents reported at 1200/ppm, it is baffling to us that the Management of Dangote Industries (including the Dangote Refinery), who are very much aware of these facts, could claim that the NMDPRA has been granting licenses indiscriminately to marketers to import dirty refined products into the country.
“Their current blend of AGO, with reported sulphur contents of 1200/ppm is technically classified as ‘dirty fuel’ and grossly above the 200/ppm imported by any marketer or depot owner,” DAPPMAN stated.
While acknowledging that the Dangote refinery is a business entity that is free to adopt any model that suits its management, DAPPMAN, however, stressed that “its current practice of cheaper bulk sales prices to international buyers at the detriment of Nigerian buyers calls to question their patriotism to the country”.
