Dangote Accuses IOCs Of Sabotage, Crude Oil Price Manipulation

Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) has accused the International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria of manipulating crude oil pricing to undermine Dangote Oil Refinery and Petrochemicals.

DIL Vice President Devakumar Edwin, who made the allegation during a training program for Energy editors, also claimed that the IOCs are “deliberately and willfully frustrating” the refinery’s efforts to buy local crude by jerking up the high premium price above the market price.

According to him, this forces the company to import crude from the United States and other countries with its attendant high costs. Edwin also criticized the indiscriminate granting of licences by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to marketers to import dirty refined products into the country.

He said: “The Federal Government issued 25 licences to build refineries and we are the only one that delivered on the promise. “In effect, we deserve every support from the Government.

It is good to note that from the start of production, more than 3.5 billion litres, which represents 90 per cent of our production, have been exported. “We are calling on the Federal Government and regulators to give us the necessary support to create jobs and prosperity for the nation.”

He added: “While the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) are trying their best to allocate the crude for us, the IOCs are deliberately and willfully frustrating our efforts to buy the local crude.”

“Recall that the NUPRC recently met with crude oil producers as well as refineries owners in Nigeria, in a bid to ensure full adherence to Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligations (DCSO), as enunciated under section 109(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

“It seems that the IOCs’ objective is to ensure that our Petroleum Refinery fails. “It is either they are deliberately asking for ridiculous/humongous premium or, they simply state that crude is not available. At some point, we paid $6 over and above the market price.

“This has forced us to reduce our output as well as import crude from countries as far as the US, increasing our cost of production… “It appears that the objective of the IOCs is to ensure that Nigeria remains a country which exports Crude Oil and imports refined Petroleum Products”