The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) on Saturday announced the deployment of 300 trucks to lift petrol from the Dangote Refinery.
“We (NNPC Ltd) have started deploying our trucks and vessels to the Dangote Refinery to lift PMS (petrol), in preparation for the scheduled lifting date of September 15th, as set by the refinery,” spokesman for the oil company.
“Our trucks and personnel are already on site, ready to begin lifting.
“We are expecting more trucks, and the deployment will continue throughout the weekend so we can start loading as soon as the refinery begins operations on the 15th (tomorrow),” spokesman for the oil company, Mr Olufemi Soneye told Vanguard.
Earlier, he had taken to his X handle and wrote: “NNPC Ltd. trucks are arriving at the Dangote Refinery in preparation for the scheduled petrol loading on Sunday, September 15, 2024.
“By the end of today (Saturday), at least 300 trucks will be stationed at the refinery’s fuel loading gantry.”
Also, the NNPC had said: “In preparation for the Dangote Refinery’s scheduled petrol loading on Sunday, September 15, 2024, NNPC Ltd. has been mobilising trucks to the refinery’s fuel loading gantry in Ibeju-Lekki.
“As of Saturday afternoon, NNPC Ltd. had deployed over 100 trucks, with hundreds more en route.”
Yesterday (Friday), the federal government said the loading of the first batch of petrol from the Dangote Refinery will commence on Sunday, September 15.
The government disclosed this in a statement posted on the X handle of the special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga.
It said petrol from the Dangote Refinery will only be sold to the NNPC which will then sell to various marketers in the short term.
The statement said the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Mr Wale Edun, disclosed this in his office in Abuja shortly after the meeting of the technical sub-committee on the sale of crude oil to local refineries in naira on Friday.
Edun, represented by the executive chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Zacchaeus Adedeji, announced the completion of all agreements and modalities for the implementation of the federal executive council approval on the sale of crude to local refineries in naira and corresponding purchase of petroleum products in naira.
“I am glad to announce that all agreements have been completed and loading of the first batch of PMS from the Dangote refinery will commence on Sunday 15 September. From 1st October, NNPC will commence the supply of about 385k barrels per day (bdp) of crude oil to the Dangote refinery to be paid for in naira.
“In return, the Dangote refinery will supply premium motor spirit (PMS) and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market to be paid for in naira. Diesel will be sold in naira by the Dangote refinery to any interested off-taker. PMS will only be sold to NNPC, NNPC will then sell to various marketers for now,” Edun said.
He said all associated regulatory costs, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), etc will also be paid for in naira.
“We are also setting up a one-stop shop that will coordinate service provision from all regulatory agencies, security agencies, and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth implementation of this initiative. This will be located in NPA, Lagos.
“We thank everyone for the hard work and patriotism exhibited over the last couple of weeks. We would sincerely like to thank Mr President for championing this novel initiative and would like to assure Mr President that he can count on us to implement his vision,” he added.
