Dangote Refinery Approves 20 Marketers for Petrol Purchases

By Adedapo Adesanya

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has approved 20 petroleum marketers under a new consortium arrangement for the purchase of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, as it restructures its distribution system amid tensions over imported petrol.

The approved marketers include A.A. Rano, MRS Oil Nigeria, Techno Oil, Heyden Petroleum, NIPCO Plc, 11 Plc, Conoil, Ardova Plc, NNPC Retail, TotalEnergies and Rainoil/Eterna.

Others are Integrated Oil and Gas, Fatgbems, AYM Shafa, Northwest Petroleum & Gas, Masters Energy, Nepal Energies, Sobaz, Optima Energy, Bovas and Soroman.

The refinery communicated the list to marketers on Thursday, October 8, adding that the 20 companies do not represent the full consortium, with additional marketers expected to be announced.

Under the arrangement, purchases of petrol from the refinery will be channelled through approved consortium members, giving them a defined role in distributing its products to the domestic market.

The development follows the refinery’s earlier announcement that it would stop supplying petrol to major marketers it identifies as fuel importers.

Dangote Refinery had raised concerns that some marketers were blending its Euro 5 petrol with imported products, a practice it said could compromise product quality and undermine its distribution structure.

The latest move also comes amid an ongoing dispute over the role of imported petrol in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market, including access to import licences and competition between domestic refining and fuel imports.

Recall that the company had dragged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to court following the issuance of import licences to bring in imported fuels, a move that market analysts say could affect its bottom line.

Also, some marketers had reportedly challenged the refinery’s supply restrictions, while the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) accused the facility of being selective in its choice of customers.

The consortium arrangement signals a further shift in the refinery’s approach to selling petrol locally, with access to its products increasingly structured around designated marketers.

The refinery’s decision is expected to keep attention on the relationship between domestic refining capacity, fuel importation and competition among petroleum marketers in Nigeria.