Fight, Blame Game As Oil Marketers Dump Dangote Refinery For Imported Petrol

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The move by petroleum marketers to import Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) despite the availability of Dangote Refinery Petrol has been condemned by the Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria.

Osun Defender reports that petroleum marketers have reportedly bought 141 million litres of PMS from abroad and are being conveyed to Nigeria following the full deregulation of the downstream oil sector by the Federal Government.

The medium also reported that there are issues among Dangote Refinery, the NNPC and Petroleum marketers over the price of the former’s product price.

Reacting to the development, the Publicity Secretary of CORAN, Eche Idoko, in a statement, alleged that some imported petrol was substandard and was blended in Malta or Togo.

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“So I would assure you this regime will pay them way better than the regime of importing petroleum products, where they sell to us, substandard products blended in Malta or Togo and imported into our country,” Idoko stated.

He called for backward integration, saying some were afraid that Dangote would become a monopoly.

“The fear marketers are having is that Dangote will become a monopoly, but that has been taken care of by Dangote subscribing to our association.

“With the Petroleum Industry Act in place and all the agencies in play, there is no way that Dangote can become a monopoly”, he said.

Earlier, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority had declared that imported petrol would be subjected to three tests before being allowed to be sold across the country.

NMDPRA spokesperson George Ene-Ita disclosed this amid petrol import concerns.

He stressed that marketers with import licenses were free to import PMS but noted that the products must be subjected to three major tests by the agency.