Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, on Tuesday, said his refinery has the capacity to provide enough petrol to satisfy local consumption, noting that about 500 million liters have not been taken up by retailers.
Dangote, who stated this while fielding questions from State House journalists after the meeting of the Implementation Committee of Sale of Crude and Refined Petroleum products with President Bola Tinubu, wondered why there are shortages of fuel at most filing stations.
“We have enough supply of crude; we can actually produce much more than 30 million liters every day. At full capacity, we can even supply whatever is being consumed.
“As we speak today, we have 500 million liters, you know, in our tanks. So, with 500 million liters in our tanks, even if there’s no production from anywhere or no imports, this will take the country more than 12 days, you know, with no imports, with no production, nothing.
“So we are very ready. We are more than ready. And you know, I’m also putting my own name on line by giving Mr President my word that, yes, we will be able to supply the market a minimum of 30 million per day, and we’ll be ramping up production. So, we’re ready. We’re more than ready.”
Speaking further on the shortages and long queues at the filling stations, Africa’s richest man said that the marketers are not coming forward to take petrol from the refinery.
“One thing that you have to understand is that we are producers. I have a refinery, I’m not in the business of retail. If I am in the business of retail, then you hold me responsible. But what I’m saying is that the retailers should please come forward and pick. If they don’t come forward and pick, what do you want me to do?
“So I don’t expect either NNPC or the marketers to stop importing, but the truth is that they should come and pick because we have what they need. And you know, as they remove, I will be pumping. I don’t know whether you understand what it takes to keep have a billion liters inside our tank.
“It’s costing me money every day. If I will be able to collect the naira, I can actually charge somebody 32 percent in interest. So, right now, that’s what I’m losing. And you are talking about 500 million liters, you know, I mean, we don’t print money. But the issue is that if they come and collect the products, then you will not see any queues at the filling stations.
“We have what it takes for them to come and collect. We are not retailers. We also don’t have trucks to send the products to the filing stations. We have a factory, we have where they can load. If they come and pick the one. They have been doing that with importation. So, if they’ve been doing that with importation, if it’s true, they are doing 55 million, I see no reason why they won’t come and collect our own and distribute.”
