The controversy over the sulphur content of diesel produced by the Dangote Refinery is yet to subside. Last weekend, reports circulated online claiming that recent deliveries from the $20 billion refinery contained high levels of sulphur.
This came after an oil trader said that despite allegations that Dangote diesel had high levels of sulphur, not a single motorist or industrial customer had complained about the product.
“We don’t want to be involved in the politics or claims and counter-claims about Dangote diesel, but what I’m going to tell you is that no transporter, motorist, or industrial consumer has complained about the diesel since we started distributing it,” the National President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi said.
A senior official of the Dangote Group said the recent reports of high sulphur content in Dangote diesel were from people bent on destroying the refinery, and the reports according to him, were fake. Journalists recalled that Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote and some of the company’s executives had earlier accused the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Agency of importing dirty fuel into Nigeria.
Devakumar Edwin, Vice President Oil and Gas, Dangote Industries Limited, accused the NMDPRA of not only sabotaging the refinery but also indiscriminately issuing licenses to those importing dirty refined products into the country.
Edwin said the Federal Government issued 25 licenses to build refineries in Nigeria but the only one who kept its promise was the Dangote Group.
“The Federal Government issued 25 licences to build refineries and we are the only one that delivered on our promise. In effect, we deserve every support from the government. It is good to note that from the start of production, more than 3.5 billion litres, which represents 90 percent of our production, have been exported. We are calling on the Federal Government and regulators to give us the necessary support to create jobs and prosperity for the nation,” Edwin said.
He claimed that Dangote manufactures and sells diesel in compliance with Economic Community of West African States regulations, but “licences are being issued, in large quantities, to traders who are buying the extremely high sulphur diesel from Russia and dumping it in the Nigerian market.”
Edwin lamented, “The decision of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in granting licenses indiscriminately for the importation of dirty diesel and aviation fuel has made the Dangote refinery expand into foreign markets. The refinery has recently exported diesel and aviation fuel to Europe and other parts of the world. The same industry players fought us for crashing the price of diesel and aviation fuel, but our aim, as I have said earlier, is to grow our economy.”
He maintained that the refinery was able to export its products to Europe and other parts of the world because it complied with international standards and adhered to strict guidelines and regulations to protect the local environment.
“It is regrettable that in Nigeria, import licences are granted despite knowing that we can produce nearly double the amount of products needed in Nigeria and even export the surplus. Since January 2021, ECOWAS regulations have prohibited the import of highly contaminated diesel into the region,” Edwin explained.
But in his response to Dangote, NMDPRA Managing Director Farouk Ahmed denied all allegations of sabotage, saying Dangote’s diesel has a higher sulphur content than imported diesel.
Ahmed revealed that the refinery, which has been selling diesel and aviation fuel in Nigeria for months, is unlicensed and said it is still in the pre-commissioning stage and 45% complete.
The NMDPRA chief warned that Nigeria cannot rely heavily on Dangote refineries for fuel supplies. He said the refinery had asked regulators to stop issuing import permits to other operators who would be the sole suppliers of fuel in Nigeria.
On quality, Ahmed argued, “So, in terms of quality, currently the AGO quality in terms of sulphur is the lowest as far as the West African requirement of 50 ppm is concerned.
“Dangote refinery and some modular refineries, like Waltersmith refinery and Aradel refinery, are producing between 650 to 1,200ppm (parts per million). So, in terms of quality, their product is much inferior to the imported quality.”
During a recent refinery tour by members of the House of Representatives led by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, Dangote maintained that products refined at the world’s largest single-train refinery are of better quality than imported products and meet international standards.
The chairman and other members observed the testing of diesel oil from the Dangote refinery as well as the testing of diesel oil from two gas stations. The diesel samples were obtained by the lawmakers from two filling stations near Eleko junction along the Lekki-Epe Expressway in Lagos.
Laboratory tests at Dangote’s company were said to have revealed that its diesel had 87.6 ppm sulphur content, while the other two samples had sulphur concentrations of over 1,800 ppm and 2,000 ppm respectively.
Dangote stressed that the findings refute Ahmed’s assertion that imported diesel is better than locally refined products.
“We produce the best diesel in Nigeria. It is disheartening that instead of safeguarding the market, the regulator is undermining it. Our doors are open for the regulator to conduct tests on our products anytime; transparency is paramount to us. It would be beneficial for the regulator to showcase its laboratory to the world so Nigerians can compare. Our interest is Nigeria first because if Nigeria doesn’t grow, we have limited capacity for growth.
On the sulphur content, he said, “I am actually surprised for somebody to come and mention that we have a bad quality; we and other modular refineries. I can’t talk of the quality of the modular refineries, but our own today is 87ppm and by Monday (July 23), we will be at 50ppm, by the beginning of August, we will be at 10ppm.
“All the test certificates people are busy flaunting around today are fake certificates. The demarketing of a company by a regulator that he is supposed to protect is very very unfortunate. We produce the best diesel in Nigeria and if the regulator wants, he can come any time to conduct a test.”
In an interview with Journalists, NMDPRA spokesperson George Ene Ita told correspondents that there are about 15 NMDPRA engineers and scientists at the refinery and their report will be sent to the authorities to confirm the current sulphur content of Dangote’s diesel. However, various laboratory results were published online over the weekend which allegedly showed that the sulphur content of Dangote diesel supplied to retailers between April and July had risen to 1,200 ppm.
Online reports said the fuel was delivered in 32 batches to various warehouses of Rain Oil, AA Rano, TMDK Oil, Kashton, NIPCO, Sobaz, and other retail companies.
It was also alleged that the Dangote refinery delivered a consignment of diesel containing 950 ppm of sulphur to an AA Rano warehouse in Ijegun, Lagos, two days after the lawmakers’ visit. The quality certificate, dated July 21, was approved by an independent laboratory called Intertek.
Reacting to this, a Dangote Group official said some people were trying to sabotage the refinery.
The official, who requested anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the press, claimed the report was false. “But you should know where it comes from. It is wrong,” the official said.
He added, “They are intentionally circulating falsehood. They are bent on destroying us. All these are fake documents. They are intentionally circulating it to spoil our good name.”
The source, who declined to be named, said Nigerians know the truth behind online reports. At the time of writing this report, the NMDPRA spokesperson could not be reached.
The Dangote refinery is set to start selling gasoline (petrol) within a week but has the backing of President Bola Tinubu, who has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to sell naira crude to the refinery.
Statement from civil society groups;
In a related development, a coalition of civil society groups said it would set up a situation room to monitor NNPCL’s compliance with the presidential directive to sell naira crude to the Dangote refinery.
Heads of 28 civil society groups who toured the 650,000 barrels per day facility, the world’s largest single-train refinery in Lagos, said the order by NNPC and regulators was a clear sign of deliberate control over refineries in the country, which may continue to import petroleum products.
Speaking for others, Solomon Addo of Rise Up for a United Nigeria said his group saw a world-class facility. He wondered how government regulators could side with importers of petroleum products when the products are produced in local refineries. He said civil society groups have decided to petition the presidency, citing the need to accept the Dangote Refinery as a national asset to free the country from the yoke of fuel imports while exporting crude oil.
In a statement released by the refinery on Sunday, Adodo said, “Having gone round to see this world-class project, we are at a loss as to why the government could decide to turn against Nigerians in this manner. But we are not too surprised given our past experiences. Those who are profiting from our collective misfortune will not want the Dangote refinery to work.
“We are ready to defend this facility with everything as civil society organizations. We are not speaking on our behalf but on behalf of all Nigerians and on behalf of our fatherland. It leaves much to be desired how an agency of government with oversight function to guide to grow such a project as this would now be disparaging the same project. This is too bad.
“We have seen for ourselves and we have cleared all doubt as to the completion of this refinery and the readiness to supply all our domestic needs. We will expose them all. Anyone who is not ready to ensure that Nigeria has a new lease of life must give way. Now it is a fight to finish.
“Going forward, we are going to set up a situation room to monitor the compliance of NNPC with the directive of Mr. President that Dangote refinery would be supplied with crude in naira because we know that the enemies of the people would want to adopt another strategy to sabotage the presidential directive.”
Foreign countries invite Dangote;
While welcoming the group, Edwin noted that the Dangote Refinery is a value-adding facility that will stop the export of Nigerian crude oil and the import of finished products, wondering why the government should be opposed to such an initiative for Nigeria.
He said that many African countries have minerals but these minerals are exported as raw products and finished products are imported into the country, so they are not adding value to their own economies when it should be the other way around.
“This is what Dangote refinery seeks to correct, we did the same in the cement and sugar sectors where Nigeria was a leading importer of those products, and with the coming of Dangote leading the backward integration programme of the government, others came into the sector and together Nigeria now exports cement to other countries.
“What we want to do in the refinery, we have done it in other businesses, Nigeria used to be the biggest importer of sugar, we came in and changed the narrative. We led the backward integration scheme of the Federal Government, and we now produce sugar locally for domestic consumption and others have joined us. We did the same in cement by opening up the production plant and today Nigeria exports cement to other countries,” he explained.
On the challenge of crude oil supply, the Dangote official said: “We are not asking for any favours other than we want to buy crude oil to produce crude oil. First, they said there was no crude oil, but then there they said we have to pay a few dollars more than the prevailing market price for crude oil. And this is a global market where you can track the price of oil at any time. We bought oil from Brazil and the US. Then they said we shouldn’t make the price of our product public.
“Even the US, the leading proponent of a free market economy, protects its local industries by imposing huge duties on from foreign imports just to protect local industries. This is a man that Saudi Aramco once approached to come and cite his refinery in Saudi Arabia, promising steady supply of crude. Abu Dahbi also invited him to do the same on their soil but he rejected it, insisting he would build at home. Now he did that, a facility that is supposed to add value to Nigeria’s economy is being frustrated.”
He said Nigeria can only consume 45 percent of its refinery capacity, while the remaining 55 percent will be exported to bring foreign exchange to the country.
