Key points

• Refinery sources say petrol now goes only to independent marketers and others not known for importing.
• Some marketers have gone to court to force the NMDPRA to keep issuing import licenses, fearing they will be stranded.
• Importers call the move a ploy to block imports and challenge Dangote to prove imported petrol is substandard.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has stopped selling petrol to major marketers who import fuel into Nigeria, escalating a dispute over claims that importers blend its Euro-5 product with lower-quality foreign grades.

A refinery official confirmed the decision, saying the plant would no longer supply those “trying to blend our high-quality products with their ultra-low-quality imported products.”

A second source said sales now go to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and other buyers not known for importing.

The move follows a warning last month. Dangote said then that it could not understand why it would invest heavily in high-quality fuel “only for those products to be mixed with imported products of uncertain quality and the resulting product to be associated with the refinery.”

Its concern is that blending makes it impossible to tell refinery-supplied petrol from product handled by third parties.

Importers push back

Marketers who import petrol reacted angrily, describing the restriction as an attempt to choke off competition. “We know what Dangote is trying to do. He is just trying to block imports,” one said, speaking anonymously.

They also challenged the refinery to produce evidence that imported petrol entering Nigeria falls below required standards.

Moreover, one marketer argued that a seller cannot dictate what a buyer does with the product afterward, comparing it to a motorist topping up at an MRS station after filling at TotalEnergies.

“Can TotalEnergies say you should not mix its petrol with MRS petrol? No, it can’t,” he said.

Another insisted the Federal Government has a duty to guarantee supply and protect consumers, which means imports remain necessary whenever domestic output dips.

Consequently, some marketers have gone to court seeking an order compelling the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to keep granting import licenses, fearing they would be stranded without them.

Independents stay neutral

IPMAN’s response has been measured. National Vice Chairman Hamed Fashola said his understanding was that Dangote is being selective rather than blanket, since not every major marketer imports.

He added that independents buy wherever the price is best, from Dangote or from importers.

National Publicity Secretary Chinedu Ukadike said he believed the refinery remained open for business and would keep selling to marketers.

He could not confirm whether blending occurs, because independents are not importing. However, he said the refinery’s experts “know the best way to deal with” adulteration, and he would not stand in the way of measures to discourage it.

The standoff lands as Dangote-supplied petrol dominates the domestic market and the refinery prepares its N2.2 trillion IPO. Meanwhile, the NMDPRA has not publicly commented on the licensing dispute.