We cannot sabotage Dangote refinery after investing billions of naira in it — NNPC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited has reiterated that it is not involved in any sabotage of the Dangote Refinery, highlighting its substantial investment of billions of naira in the plant. 

In a recent interview on the Bereke Family Radio Programme, which was published on YouTube on Sunday, Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC, stated that the oil company had invested billions of naira in the refinery.  

He emphasized that It would be counterproductive for NNPC to undermine the plant, as doing so would be against its own interests. 

He also confirmed that NNPC holds a 7.2% stake in the refinery, emphasizing that this investment reflects the national oil company’s strong belief in the success of the 650,000-barrel-per-day petrochemical plant. 

“We want all Nigerians to know that NNPC limited doesn’t have any issue at all with Dangote Refinery. We are part of the owners of Dangote refinery and we will want it to collapse.  

“We put billions of naira into Dangote refinery. As of today, we have 7.2% stake in the refinery. So why would we want to sabotage such a company?  

“Now, on the issue Mr. Farouq raised, he doesn’t work for NNPC. Mr. Farouq Ahmed is the head of Nigeria’s mainstream and downstream petroleum regulatory authorities. They have power over all the refineries. Anything that has to with distribution of petrol, they are in charge. In fact, they are superior to us in that area. We don’t have anything to do with them,” Soneye said.  

In addition, Soneye explained the reason behind NNPC’s decision to reduce its stake in Dangote refinery to 7.2%.  

He said NNPC chose rather to reallocate its investment into Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)  projects across the country. 

He mentioned that NNPC realized that CNG is very affordable as a better energy alternative for Nigerians.  

According to him, an average Nigerian can fill up his car with N10,000 with CNG, creating a huge investment opportunity in the energy space.  

“The reason we reduce our stakes in Dangote refinery is because we want to invest in CNG. We see that CNG is very cheap and all over the world people are investing in clean, cheaper, energy alternative. 

“That’s why you see that NNPC is building different CNG stations across everywhere.  

“Because we see that for N10,000, Nigerians can fill their cars and use it for two weeks. We realize that gas is cheaper in Nigeria, why don’t we invest in it?,” Soneye added. 

The Dangote Refinery has been embroiled in an ongoing dispute with Nigerian oil sector authorities regarding the supply of crude oil. 

Recently, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a significant policy shift, allowing crude oil to be sold to the refinery in Naira instead of U.S. dollars. 

In line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) requires oil producers in the country to supply a specified quantity of crude oil to local refineries under the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation (DCSO). 

This directive ensures that local refineries, including the Dangote Refinery, have access to the crude oil needed for their operations.