On December 16, NNPC announced that its $1 billion crude-backed loan played a crucial role in assisting the refinery amid liquidity issues.
In response, the Dangote refinery refuted claims of facing liquidity challenges at the time of the national oil company's investment.
In a documentary aired on Arise TV on Monday, the billionaire emphasized that this contribution represents only a small part of the overall investments in the refinery.
“In 2021, when we signed the agreement, even if you give us $1 billion, $1 billion is a drop in the ocean in a $20 billion refinery,” Dangote said.
“When NNPC said ‘give us one more year, we want to change the agreement, we would rather pay you cash,’ because people don’t really understand this issue about $2 deduction on the crude.
“Can we make sure that there’s clarity around it? So what do you want? So they said they would pay us cash, and we should give them one more year.
“We gave them one more year. So from June last year to June this year. So on June 4th or 5th, I called NNPC and they gave us a week.”
Dangote mentioned that at a later point, the NNPC unexpectedly withdrew from the transaction just as the payment was due.
“I said, okay, fine. We just walked away and we just continued. But we still went ahead, we finished our refinery. Our refinery is operating,” he said.
Speaking further, Dangote said it is very “cheeky and nasty for the person who ever came up with that nonsense, saying that NNPC gave us $1 billion to assist us in our liquidity crisis”.
He added that “it’s totally not true; these are just a bunch of lies”.
In September 2021, NNPC secured a 20 percent stake in the Dangote refinery for $2.76 billion.
The company made an initial cash payment of $1 billion, with the remaining $1.76 billion to be settled through crude oil supplies.
However, on July 14, Dangote announced that the national oil company now holds a 7.2 percent interest in the refinery.
Subsequently, on August 13, NNPC verified that it had decreased its stake to allocate funds towards compressed natural gas (CNG) investments.
Dangote Refinery Lowered the Ex-Depot Price of Petrol to N899.50.
Dangote explained that the decision to lower the ex-depot petrol price to N899.50 was a reaction to current market conditions.
“It is a refinery where we invested over $20 billion and I think we have to try and protect our interests and also our investments,” the business tycoon said.
Effective December 19th, Dangote Refinery implemented a revised ex-depot price of N899.50 per liter for its petrol.
Concurrently, a collaborative initiative with MRS Oil Nigeria Plc resulted in a retail price of N935 per liter at participating stations.
Case for Supporting Domestic Production
Dangote emphasized that importing petroleum products places increased strain on foreign exchange (FX) reserves.
“40 percent of our demand on foreign exchange is through people dealing in petroleum products and the more we allow imports to come in — not because I do not want imports — the more we keep using most of our foreign exchange out of the country,” he said.
“Majority of those letters of credit open for petroleum products, the goods are not coming into Nigeria.
“There is nothing you would do that you won’t get criticism for. But I think we cannot also control people from saying their minds.”
Dangote reiterated that he was open to criticism, adding that in the history of Nigeria, in the last 100 years, “nobody has put in $20 billion in any project”.