Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) on Friday said it is untrue the report that the quality of its diesel is inferior.
It claimed that its refined diesel is 80% superior to those currently imported into Nigeria.
Group Head, Corporate Communications, Dangote Industries Limited, Anthony Chiejina, in a statement yesterday said the reports of producing high-sulfur diesel were “mischievous and aimed at tarnishing our reputation.”
The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Farouk Ahmed in an interview with journalists had alleged that Dangote Refinery was producing inferior quality diesel.
He said: “On concerns about the supply of petroleum products nationwide and the claims by some media houses that we are about to scuttle Dangote refinery, that is not so. Dangote Refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage. It has not been licensed. We have not licensed it yet. I think it is about 45 per cent completed.
“So we can not rely heavily on one refinery to feed the nation. Dangote is requesting that we should stop or suspend all importation of petroleum products especially AGO (diesel) and jet kero and direct all marketers to his refinery.
“That is not good for the nation in terms of energy security and that is not good for the market because of monopoly. So in terms of quality, currently the AGO (diesel) quality in terms of sulfur is the lowest as far as the West African requirement of 50 parts per million (PPM). Dangote refinery, as well as some major refineries like Waltersmith refinery, and Aradel Refinery, they are producing between 650 to 1,200 PPM. So in terms of quality, their quality is much more inferior to the imported quality.”
But Chiejina said: “The false and misleading allegations made by some media outlets that the Dangote Refinery is producing substandard diesel which is why it reduced the price by 37%, is baseless and mischievous.
“Until late last year, diesel imports into Nigeria were up to 7,000 parts per million (ppm) of Sulphur which has been going on for many years. Our diesel is produced currently at significantly lower levels of Sulphur; as such, we find baseless the allegation that the reason for the reduction is linked to quality. What we are producing is 80% of what is being imported into the country.
“Another inaccurate assertion is that Medium Level Sulphur diesel is meant for off-road use. This is a completely false statement as this would have invariably meant that all the imports for the last 20 years have been damaging equipment.
Thirdly, diesel imports for the high Sulphur grade have been at significantly higher prices until we started operation. If indeed high Sulphur diesel is sold at lower prices how come we never saw the lower prices until now?” the spokesperson said.
Chiejina stated that the real reason behind the Dangote diesel price reduction was principally due to the patriotism of the management to the nation as well as prevailing market dynamics of supply and demand.