By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja

Dangote Refinery has clarified that NNPC Limited is yet to commence the lifting of petrol at the facility as both parties are still negotiating terms.

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Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina in a statement on Thursday said the company is not in a position to determine the price of petrol as the sector is regulated.

He faulted media report that NNPC has commenced the lifting of petrol from the refinery.

“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 finalize 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”.

He urged the public to disregard the reports “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.”

Meanwhile, NNPC Limited has disclosed that over 17.6 million barrels of crude oil will be delivered to Dangote Petroleum Refinery between September and October.

Speaking in a national television programme on Thursday, Executive Vice-President, Downstream, NNPC, Adedapo Segun, said the move is part of the federal government’s push to drive local production of petroleum products.

“We have supplied about 30 million barrels to Dangote so far. Six-point-three million this month, and we will supply 11.3 million in October,” he added.

Vanguard News