Dangote Group has dismissed reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL has started lifting Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, from its refinery.
A newspaper had reported that NNPCL lifted petrol from Dangote Refinery and sold it for N897 per liter to Nigerians.
The report comes amid the declaration by Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Group, that the refinery is ready to commence production and sales of petroleum products.
However, Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief Branding and Communications Office of Dangote Group, in a statement on Thursday said, NNPCL was yet to start lifting fuel from the refinery.
According to Dangote Group, the petrol market is strictly regulated, and as such, the company can not determine, fix or influence the product price which falls under the purview of relevant government authorities.
“We would like to state that NNPC has not commenced lifting of refined Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, from our Dangote petroleum refinery.
“Therefore, the issue of fixing the price of petrol lifted from our refinery does not arise, as we are yet to finalise our contract with NNPC.
“The PMS market is strictly regulated, which is known to all oil marketers and stakeholders in the sector, hence we can not determine, fix, or influence the product price, which falls under the purview of relevant government authorities.
“We urge the public to disregard the headline as it is misleading and does not represent the true position in this matter. We are guaranteeing Nigerians of exceptionally high quality petroleum products that will be readily available all over the country,” the statement said.