- By Halimah Olamide
The Dangote Group has accused the International Oil Companies (IOCs) of deliberate attempt to sabotage its refinery.
The Vice President of the group in charge of Oil and Gas, Devakumar Edwin, accused the foreign oil companies of frustrating the refinery’s efforts to buy local crude by raising up high premium price above the market price, thereby forcing it to import crude from countries as far as United States, with its attendant high costs.
According to Edwin who spoke with Energy Editors at a one-day training programme organised by the Dangote Group, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, in granting licences indiscriminately 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 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 in order to create jobs and prosperity for the nation.
“While the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, is trying its best to allocate the crude for us, the IOCs are deliberately and wilfully frustrating our efforts to buy the local crude.
‘’It will be recalled that 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 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 the objective of the IOCs is to ensure Nigeria remains a country which exports crude oil and imports refined petroleum products. They (IOCs) are keen on exporting the raw materials to their home countries, creating employment and wealth for their countries, adding to their GDP, and dumping the expensive refined products into Nigeria, thus making us to be dependent on imported products.
‘’It is the same strategy the multinationals have been adopting in every commodity, making Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa to be facing unemployment and poverty, while they create wealth for themselves at our expense.
‘’This is exploitation – pure and simple. Unfortunately, the country is also playing into their hands by continuing to issue import licences at the expense of our economy and at the cost of the health of Nigerians who are exposed to carcinogenic products.
“In spite of the fact that we are producing and bringing out diesel into the market, complying with ECOWAS regulations and standards, licences are being issued, in large quantities, to traders who are buying the extremely high sulphur diesel from Russia and dumping it in the Nigerian market.