Marketers in the downstream petroleum sector have said that in spite of a recent directive of the Federal Government that other oil marketers were free to start loading petrol from the Dangote Refinery, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited was still the sole off-taker of the commodity.
The marketers said the NNPC will remain the sole buyer until its agreement with the Dangote Refinery as regards the lifting of petrol terminates.
They, however, did not say when the agreement between both organisations would end.
Members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) after meeting with officials of the Dangote refinery on Tuesday, revealed that NNPC was still the sole off-taker of Dangote petrol pending the termination of an agreement between Dangote and NNPC.
In a notice to IPMAN members in the Western Zone, issued by the Zonal Chairman, South-West, Dele Tajudeen, the association said, “The IPMAN National Vice President, Zonal Chairman of Western Zone, IPMAN members, and PTD Zonal Chairman met with the Vice President of Dangote Group and many other notable staff members of the Dangote refinery yesterday, October 15, 2024.
“We had a very useful and fruitful discussion on the direct purchase of products from the Dangote refinery. The Vice President of Dangote confirmed that the Minister of Finance/ Coordinating Minister of the Economy, and the Minister of Petroleum Resources have directed them to commence sales of products to marketers who have duly registered with the refinery, but they are still having a pending agreement with NNPC Ltd which still subsist.
“Until and when the agreement is terminated by either party, the direct sales will still be on hold.”
The notice stated that the IPMAN National Executive Council would hold a meeting in Abuja on Wednesday “in that respect.”
It added, “In view of this, marketers who are yet to officially register as IPMAN members should do so without wasting time as such marketers will not benefit from this opportunity when we eventually commence lifting from the Dangote refinery.”
