Dangote Urges Fuel Marketers to Collect Available Supply as Refinery Holds 500m Litres

Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group, announced on Tuesday that his refinery can meet Nigeria’s demand for petrol, noting that about 500 million litres are currently available but not being collected by fuel marketers.

Speaking with State House journalists after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu and the Implementation Committee on the Sale of Crude and Refined Petroleum Products, Dangote expressed confusion over fuel shortages at many petrol stations across the country.

“We have a sufficient crude supply and can produce well over 30 million litres daily. Running at full capacity, we could fully meet the country’s consumption needs,” Dangote said.

“As of now, we have 500 million litres stored, enough to keep Nigeria supplied for over 12 days without needing imports or further production. We’re ready to provide the market with a minimum of 30 million litres daily, and we’ll gradually increase that volume.”

Commenting on the fuel shortages and long queues at petrol stations, Africa’s richest man highlighted that marketers had not been collecting fuel from his refinery.

“It’s important to understand that we are producers. I own a refinery, not a retail network. If I were involved in retail, then I’d be responsible for this. Retailers should come forward and collect the fuel. If they don’t, what do you expect me to do?” he explained.

Dangote added that while he didn’t expect the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) or marketers to halt imports, he urged them to utilise his refinery’s supply.

“We have the fuel they need. As they take it, we’ll keep refilling. Storing 500 million litres isn’t easy or cheap. Every day this fuel sits in our tanks, I’m losing money,” he said, pointing out the financial costs involved.

He stressed that if marketers collected from his refinery, the queues at filling stations would disappear.

“We have the fuel ready for collection, but we don’t have a distribution network or trucks to deliver it directly to petrol stations. We provide the supply point; marketers need to come and pick up the fuel. They’ve done it with imported fuel, so if they’re genuinely distributing 55 million litres daily, they should be able to take ours and get it to consumers,” Dangote concluded.