Oil marketers, on Monday, declared that they were still awaiting the supply of refined petroleum products from the $20bn Dangote Petroleum Refinery, four weeks after the launch of production at the multi-billion dollar plant.
On January 12, 2024, Dangote refinery announced that it had commenced the production of Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, and aviation fuel or JetA1.
The President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, in a statement issued by his firm at the time, thanked President Bola Tinubu for his support, encouragement, and thoughtful advice towards the actualisation of the project.
Dangote also thanked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NMDPRA and Nigerians for their support and belief in the historic project, as he revealed that the facility would pump out diesel and aviation fuel in January, subject to regulatory approvals.
He said, “We thank President Bola Tinubu for his support and for making our dream come true. This production, as witnessed today, would not have been possible without his visionary leadership and prompt attention to details.
“His intervention at various stages cleared all impediments thereby accelerating the actualisation of the project. We also thank the NNPC, NUPRC and NMDPRA for their support. These organisations have been our dependable partners in this historic journey.
“We also thank Nigerians for their belief and support in this project. We have started the production of diesel and aviation fuel, and the products will be in the market within this month once we receive regulatory approvals.”
“Currently we load from private depot owners and part of NNPC Retail and at times this constitutes supply hitches that lead to queues at filling stations in many parts of the country,” the IPMAN president stated.
He told our correspondent that the queues in Abuja and other parts of the country would clear in few days, stressing that marketers were loading products from depots.
