Sunday, 15 September 2024 marked the beginning of petrol distribution from the Dangote Refinery, located in Lagos State's Ibeju-Lekki area, as a fleet of trucks started loading Premium Motor Spirit.
This new development comes after months of anticipation, following the refinery's receipt of crude shipments and commencement of diesel and aviation fuel production earlier this year.
Videos shared on the Dangote Group's X handle (formerly Twitter) show trucks owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) at the Dangote Refinery, indicating the commencement of petrol distribution.
The post provided a visual confirmation of the refinery's latest milestone in supplying Premium Motor Spirit to the market
The tweet read, “First set of trucks set for loading of PMS at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.”
Another tweet read, “NNPC begins PMS lifting at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.”
Information reveals that $20bn Lekki-based facility is equipped with 86 gantries making it possible to load 86 trucks simultaneously.
According to reports, when the process started, 10 trucks drove into gantries while their compartments were filled with petrol from a computerised gadget.
Earlier, NNPC , in a tweet on Saturday, stated that hundreds of trucks would be deployed to the refinery on Sunday 15 September for PMS loading.
The NNPC stated, “In preparation for the Dangote Refinery’s scheduled petrol loading on Sunday, September 15, 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.”
On Saturday, The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr. Zacceus Adedeji, who represented the Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Presidential Committee on the Sale of Crude Oil and Refined Products for Domestic Consumption in Naira, Wale Edun, disclosed this during the committee’s briefing yesterday in Abuja.
In accordance with the agreement, Adedeji revealed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has been designated as the exclusive buyer of petrol produced by Dangote Refinery. Conversely, diesel output from the facility will be marketed directly to any interested petroleum products marketer, without restriction.
The commencement of petrol loading at the Dangote Refinery marks the end of a month-long controversy surrounding the product's quality and sale.
Nevertheless, a significant challenge persists: determining the price at which the 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery will supply petrol to oil marketers, and ultimately, the retail price for consumers.
