NMDPRA Says No Dirty Fuels in Nigeria, Debunks Dangote Refinery’s Claim

•Pledges fairness in midstream, downstream regulatory activities

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) yesterday said there were no dirty fuels, especially diesel being imported into the country, stressing that all imports meet current specifications.

Speaking after a meeting with the oil marketers and local refineries operators in Abuja, the Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, Ogbugo Ukoha, insisted that the NMDPRA takes the issue of regulatory compliance very seriously.

Some of those present at the meeting were: The Executive Vice President, Downstream of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Dapo Segun; the Group Managing Director of Rain Oil Limited, Dr Gabriel Ogbechie as well as the Group Chief Commercial Officer, Dangote Group, Rabiu Umar.

The response is coming against the backdrop of claims by the management of the Dangote Refinery last Sunday that the regulator was still allowing the importation of what it described as ‘dirty fuels’, despite the fact that the local refinery has better quality diesel.

Specifically, the Vice President, Oil and Gas, at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin, said that the NMDPRA had been granting import licences ‘indiscriminately’ to oil marketers to keep bringing in the products, including diesel and aviation fuel.

But the NMDPRA stated that it always ensures that only quality petroleum products are supplied and consumed in Nigeria, explaining that current imports were still far below the 50 Parts Per Million (PPM) allowable sulphur limit.

“There is no dirty fuel that we would encourage to come into Nigeria. And there is no dirty fuel being brought in,”  Ukoha stated.

Giving a background on the current specification, he explained that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State in 2020 endorsed a declaration adopting the Afri-5 fuel roadmap that requires that certain products have a minimum 50 ppm.

The declaration, he said, encouraged almost an immediate enforcement against imports to comply with the standard, but deferred enforcement for local refineries up to December 31, 2024.

“So as the Authority, what have we done since we came into being? We started by engendering compliance. We saw a downward trend up to December 2023. In December and in January of this year, we noticed a spike in the sulphur contents of products being imported. And we again now began strong enforcement from February 1.

“I am happy to tell Nigerians that up until as we speak in June, the average sulphur content in every Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) or diesel that is brought into Nigeria, the average is far below what the 50 ppm provision is in the law.

“With the local refineries, remember that declaration deferred it and so they continue to produce at a higher level. But we are not very anxious about that because even the new refineries that are coming in have within their design of the plant, desulphurisation units that will see in the nearest future that sulphur going down as low as 10 ppm,” he stressed.

To guarantee the wellbeing and health of Nigerians, the NMDPRA said that it takes the matter of quality of imported fuels very seriously.

“There is no dirty fuel that we would encourage to come into Nigeria and I have given you the statistics for June. What we have on the average from imports have continued to go down from 200 ppm on the average and now we have it far below the 50 ppm that is provided under the law.

“And then with the refineries, there is no need to enforce that until the end of this year. But they themselves are already taking steps to see that that is also guaranteed,” Ukoha explained.

On the outcome of the meeting, the NMDPRA official said it was aimed at promoting collaboration to ensure that there’s fair competition in the downstream.

He said: “Our discussions covered considerable issues, very significant and profound issues of pricing, competition issues have been raised and we will continue to engage with every operator to see that we land at a place that is ultimately beneficial to Nigeria and Nigerians.”

The single objective, he said, was to continue to plan, collaborate and work together in a manner that ensures and guarantees energy security within the country.

He recalled that on May 14, the Authority hosted a meeting between marketers and the authority and has also had engagements with refiners separately, stressing that what was different this time was the presence of both refiners and marketers at the same time.

On whether the NMDPRA was forcing any marketer to buy diesel from any particular local refinery, Ogbugo said that the sector in Nigeria remains  deregulated, stressing that the organisation continues to work towards operationalising the letters of the PIA.

Also speaking, the Group Managing Director of Rain Oil Limited, Ogbechie, said that during the meeting, the regulatory agency agreed to ensure a level playing field for all players.

He said: “One of the things we have agreed on is that there’s going to continually be a level playing field between the marketers and the refiners and we will continue to collaborate for the best interest of the industry.”

The Dangote representative, Umar, thanked the Authority for the meeting, describing it as a very productive one.

Also, Executive Vice President, Downstream, NNPC, Segun, said the parties had fruitful discussions, expressing confidence that all attendees will work together for the benefit of Nigerians.