By Abubakar Yunusa
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has raised concerns over what it described as the heavy regulatory burden imposed by multiple government agencies, saying the charges contribute to the rising pump price of petrol in Nigeria.
Managing Director of the refinery, David Bird, disclosed this during a press conference in Lagos on Monday.
Bird said the refinery deals with as many as 47 government agencies, all of which impose different forms of regulatory costs that ultimately affect the price Nigerians pay for fuel.
According to him, Nigeria must urgently prioritise local refining, especially at a time of global volatility in the crude oil market.
He said, “All countries are being very self-interested. China has banned exports. In fact, many countries with a refining industry have banned exports — Thailand, Vietnam.”
The refinery boss argued that Nigeria should adopt a similar approach by ensuring domestic refiners have adequate access to crude oil.
He stressed that the government must prioritise supplying the right grades of crude to local refiners to strengthen the country’s energy security.
Bird said, “That means ensuring that the domestic refining industry in Nigeria gets access to crude — abundant access to crude, the right grades of crude. Prioritise the domestic industry.”
He also called on government regulators to review their roles in the petroleum supply chain and reduce charges that add to production costs.
“We still feel there’s a lot of regulatory impost at every step of our processing, whether that’s regulator, whether it’s NPA, whether it’s NIMASA.
“We have 47 different government agencies that we deal with and we incur costs from.”
Bird further revealed that the refinery often struggles to secure crude oil directly from Nigeria despite making monthly requests.
According to him, crude oil grades requested by the refinery are sometimes sold to foreign traders first and later resold back to the refinery at higher prices.
“We put forward every month a whole raft of the grades. We love Bonny Light, we love Escravos.
“But the priority, I feel, is that the domestic refining industry should be seen as customers of first preference, rather than customers of last resort,” he said.
He added that the situation forces the refinery to buy Nigerian crude from international traders who add extra costs before reselling it.
“Because the ones we ask for, we then find are coming back on the market through an international trader. That’s what’s disappointing,” Bird stated.
He urged the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to be more transparent in crude allocation to ensure local refiners benefit from the crude-for-naira arrangement.
His comments come amid rising fuel prices in the country following global tensions linked to the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route affected by the ongoing Iran–US conflict.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
