Three oil entrepreneurs, AYM Shafa Restricted, A. A. Rano Restricted, and Matrix Petroleum Companies Restricted, have requested the Federal Excessive Court docket in Abuja to dismiss a swimsuit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals.

The entrepreneurs, in a joint counter affidavit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, and dated November 5, 2024, a response to an originating summon filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, argued that granting the applying of refinery would spell doom for the nation’s oil sector.

They emphasised that the plan to monopolise the oil sector is a recipe for catastrophe within the nation.

Dangote refinery in its originating summon dated September 6, 2024, had sued Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and Nigeria Nationwide Petroleum Company Restricted, AYM Shafa Restricted, A. A. Rano Restricted, T. Time Petroleum Restricted, 2015 Petroleum Restricted, and Matrix Petroleum Companies Restricted as 1st to seventh defendants respectively.

The refinery prayed the court docket to declare that NMDPRA was in violation of Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Trade Act (PIA) by issuing licenses for the importation of petroleum merchandise.

It acknowledged that such licenses ought to solely be issued in circumstances the place there’s a petroleum product shortfall.

It additionally urged the court docket to declare that NMDPRA is in violation of its statutory duties below the PIA for not encouraging native refineries equivalent to the corporate.

Shafa, A. A. Rano, and Matrix Petroleum, nevertheless, responded that Dangote refinery doesn’t produce satisfactory petroleum merchandise for the every day consumption of Nigerians.

They famous that the plaintiff had not positioned something earlier than the court docket to show the opposite.

They argued that they’re effectively certified and entitled to be issued an import licence by NMDPRA to import petroleum merchandise in Nigeria throughout the which means of Part 317(9) of the PIA.

Additionally they famous that they’re totally certified for the issuance of the import licences issued to them by the first defendant, as they duly met all of the authorized necessities for the issuance of such import licences, earlier than the identical have been issued to them.

“The import licences lawfully and validly issued to the defendants didn’t in any means in any respect, cripple the plaintiff’s enterprise or its refinery.

“The import licenses issued to the defendants by the first defendant are consistent with the provisions of the Petroleum Trade Act, 2021, the Federal Competitors and Shopper Safety Act, 2018, and different related legal guidelines,” they contended.

They insisted that giving Dangote Refinery the facility of monopoly in Nigeria’s petroleum business because it sought within the prompt swimsuit, would kill aggressive pricing of petroleum merchandise within the nation.

Stressing that such an act would additional deteriorate the nation’s critically ailing financial system.

Additionally they added that it will “unleash untold hardship on Nigerians, all of which represent a recipe for catastrophe within the polity”.

The entrepreneurs defined that if Nigeria places all her power eggs in a single basket by stopping the importation of petroleum merchandise and permitting the plaintiff to be the only real producer and provider of petroleum merchandise in Nigeria, with liberty to find out the costs at which it provides the merchandise, the costs of petroleum merchandise will proceed to rise and power safety will elude Nigeria.

Additionally they famous that ought to the refinery break down being a monopolized sector, the nation shall be plunged right into a scorching mess of power disaster.

“That within the occasion of any breakdown in or obstruction to the manufacturing chain of the plaintiff which stops it from producing Nigeria shall be thrown into power crises as a result of it doesn’t have the reserves that might final it for at the very least 30 days that it will have to order, pay for, freight and import refined merchandise into tanks in Nigeria.

“That amidst the obtrusive absence of any credible and demonstrable proof that the plaintiff refines and provides satisfactory petroleum merchandise for the every day use/consumption of Nigerians, is a recipe for catastrophe in Nigeria’s power sector.”

They additional informed the court docket that granting the reliefs sought by the plaintiff was a design to depart Nigeria and Nigerians on the mercy of the plaintiff with respect to the provision and value of buying petroleum merchandise within the nation.

The presiding decide, Justice Inyang Ekwo fastened January 20, 2025, for a report of settlement or service.

Dangote exports merchandise

In the meantime, three overseas corporations have accounted for about 75 per cent of what’s being lifted from the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery, a brand new report has acknowledged.

A report by Bloomberg on Wednesday mentioned Vitol Group, Trafigura Group, and BP Plc are the dominant consumers of fuels from the oil refinery that’s reshaping petroleum buying and selling in Africa and Europe.

The trio has accounted for the overwhelming majority of the plant’s shipments since flows started ratcheting up across the center of this yr, in accordance with knowledge from Exact Intelligence, a brand new oil-and-gas buying and selling analytics agency primarily based in Geneva.

The report quotes merchandise offtake from February 27 to October 10 with different clients together with the native market taking 25 per cent of whole gas purchases from the corporate.

Earlier this yr, Dangote started operations and kick-started the manufacturing of diesel, aviation gas, and LPG earlier than subsequently progressing to the manufacturing of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol).

As soon as it’s totally up and operating, Dangote ought to have the ability to course of about 650,000 barrels a day of crude into merchandise together with gasoline and diesel.

That may far exceed the gas making capability of any single plant in Europe or Africa, serving to to reshape the areas’ oil and gas buying and selling.

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

Evaluation of the report confirmed that the refinery has loaded virtually 6 million tons of gas since beginning up.

That is equal to virtually 45 million barrels, loading charges averaged about 35,000 tonnes a day in October, its knowledge confirmed.

Dangote itself mentioned late final month that the refinery had reached processing charges of about 420,000 barrels a day of crude.

The plant can be promoting into the Nigerian market.

The composition of gas cargoes loading from Dangote is intently watched as a result of it presents clues into the place the refinery is at when it comes to beginning up completely different processing models.

On the merchandise bought, the figures present that automotive gasoline oil — generally often called diesel — is the biggest cargo sort being lifted, accounting for the best proportion of shipments. That is adopted by gas oil, which ranks second when it comes to quantity.

Collectively, these two merchandise make up greater than 60 per cent of the overall output being collected from the plant.

Different vital gas sorts being processed embody gasoline, which is used for automobiles and different gentle autos, and jet gas, primarily utilised by the aviation business for plane.