Three oil marketing companies, AYM Shafa Limited, AA Rano Limited and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, have asked the Federal High Court, Abuja, to dismiss a suit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals.

The marketers, in a joint counter-affidavit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024 and dated November 5, 2024, in response to an originating summons filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, argued that Accepting the refinery request would spell disaster for the country’s oil sector.

They stressed that the plan to monopolize the oil sector would lead to disaster in the country.

The Dangote Refinery, in its initial summons dated September 6, 2024, had sued the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, AYM Shafa Limited, AA Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited and Matrix Petroleum Services. Limited to the 1st to 7th accused respectively.

The refinery prayed the court to declare that the NMDPRA had contravened sections 317 (8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by issuing licenses for the importation of petroleum products.

He said such licenses should only be issued when there is a shortage of petroleum products.

He also urged the court to declare that the NMDPRA is violating its statutory responsibilities under the PIA by failing to encourage local refineries such as the company.

Shafa, AA Rano and Matrix Petroleum, however, responded that the Dangote refinery does not produce adequate petroleum products for the daily consumption of Nigerians.

They pointed out that the plaintiff had not presented anything in court to prove otherwise.

They argued that they are well qualified and entitled to be issued an import license by the NMDPRA to import petroleum products into Nigeria within the meaning of section 317(9) of the PIA.

They also noted that they were fully qualified for the issuance of the import licenses issued to them by the first respondent, as they duly satisfied all legal requirements for the issuance of such import licenses, before those -these are not delivered to them.

“The import licenses legally and validly issued to the defendants have in no way crippled the plaintiff’s business or its refinery.

“The import licenses issued to the respondents by the first respondent are in accordance with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018 and other relevant laws,” they argued.

They insisted that giving Dangote Refinery monopoly power over Nigeria’s petroleum industry, as it sought in the present case, would kill the price competitiveness of petroleum products in the country.

Stressing that such an act would further deteriorate the country’s seriously ailing economy.

They also added that it would “bring untold hardship to Nigerians, which would be a recipe for disaster in the political system.”

The marketers explained that if Nigeria put all its energy eggs in one basket by stopping the importation of petroleum products and allowing the complainant to be the sole producer and supplier of petroleum products in Nigeria, with the freedom to determine the prices at which it supplies the products. , prices of petroleum products will continue to rise and energy security will elude Nigeria.

They also noted that if the refinery were to fail, given that it is a monopolized sector, the country would be plunged into a serious energy crisis.

“That in the event of a breakdown or obstruction in the plaintiff’s production line that prevents it from producing, Nigeria will be plunged into an energy crisis because it does not have the reserves that would allow it to last at least 30 days it would take to order, pay, ship and import refined products into tanks in Nigeria.

“Amidst the glaring absence of any credible and demonstrable evidence that the plaintiff is refining and supplying petroleum products adequate for the daily use/consumption of Nigerians, this is a recipe for disaster in Nigeria’s energy sector. ”

They further told the court that granting the reliefs sought by the plaintiff was intended to leave Nigeria and Nigerians at the mercy of the plaintiff with regard to the availability and cost of purchasing petroleum products in the country.

The presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, fixed January 20, 2025 for the report of settlement or service.

Dangote exports products

Meanwhile, three foreign companies accounted for about 75 percent of what is extracted from the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote refinery, according to a new report.

A Bloomberg report on Wednesday said Vitol Group, Trafigura and BP Plc are the main buyers of oil refinery fuels that are reshaping the oil trade in Africa and Europe.

That trio accounts for the vast majority of the plant’s shipments since flows began increasing around the middle of this year, according to data from Precise Intelligence, a new oil and gas trading analytics firm based in Geneva. .

The report cites product sales between February 27 and October 10, with other customers, notably the local market, taking 25 percent of total fuel purchases from the company.

Earlier this year, Dangote commenced operations and began production of diesel, aviation fuel and LPG before later moving into the production of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol).

Once fully operational, Dangote is expected to be able to process around 650,000 barrels of crude per day into products such as gasoline and diesel.

This will far exceed the fuel production capacity of any factory in Europe or Africa, helping to reshape the oil and fuel trade in these regions.

The emergence of Dangote has already reduced a glut of Nigerian crude.

The report’s analysis showed that the refinery has loaded nearly 6 million tonnes of fuel since its start-up.

That equates to nearly 45 million barrels, with loading rates averaging about 35,000 tonnes per day in October, the data shows.

Dangote himself said late last month that the refinery had achieved processing rates of around 420,000 barrels of crude per day.

The factory also sells to the Nigerian market.

The composition of fuel cargoes loaded from Dangote is closely monitored as it gives clues about the status of the refinery in terms of start-up of the various processing units.

When it comes to products sold, figures show that automotive gas oil – commonly known as diesel – is the largest type of cargo transported, accounting for the largest proportion of shipments. Next comes fuel oil, which takes second place in terms of volume.

Together, these two products represent more than 60 percent of the total production collected by the factory.

Other important types of fuel being processed include gasoline, used for cars and other light vehicles, and jet fuel, primarily used by the aviation industry for airplanes.