The Nigerian National Petroleum Company limited has denied claims made by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) that the group’s actions were undermining the Dangote Refinery Limited and preventing it from offering lower prices for its products.
In a statement made available to The News Chronicle on Saturday, Olufemi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC Ltd, while denying the claims, stated that the pricing of petroleum products is determined by global market forces.
According to the statement, the recent changes in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) prices have no impact on the DRL’s access to the Nigerian market. The group emphasized that the current high prices present an opportunity for the DRL to sell its products at lower prices.
The group noted that “there is no guarantee of lower prices associated with domestic refining compared to any global parity pricing framework, as confirmed by the DRL.
The NNPC Ltd. will only fully offtake PMS from the DRL if the market prices of PMS are higher than the pump prices in Nigeria. The DRL and any other domestic refinery are free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, which is the current practice for all fully deregulated products. NNPC Ltd. has no desire or intention to become the distributor for any entity in a free market environment, and therefore, the notion of becoming a sole offtaker does not arise.
“The NNPC Ltd. cannot undermine a business in which it holds a billion-dollar stake.
“As an advocacy group for fair and just treatment, MURIC should have verified the facts before making statements that are entirely flawed and has the potential to incite ordinary Nigerians against the NNPC Ltd,” the statement said.
