(Ecofin Agency) – In September, NNPC Ltd informed the Dangote Group of its desire to establish its permanent presence within the Dangote refinery, in accordance with their agreement for the supply of crude oil to the facility.
In Nigeria, a controversy divides the Dangote group and the public oil company NNPC Ltd, which announced on Monday, December 16, that it had obtained a loan of one billion dollars to support the installation of the refinery while it was going through difficulties. financial difficulties.
This revelation, made by Olufemi Soneye, communications manager of NNPC Ltd during a media outing, caused the Dangote group to react, through Anthony Chiejina, the group’s branding and communications manager, keen to provide clarifications.
“We would like to point out that this is a misrepresentation of the situation, because $1 billion only represents about 5% of the investment made for the construction of the Dangote refinery”declared the manager on X (ex-Twitter), Wednesday December 18.
And to add “Our decision to enter into partnership with NNPC Ltd was based on recognition of its strategic position in the industry, as the largest buyer of Nigerian crude oil and, at the time, the sole supplier of gasoline to Nigeria “.
Meanwhile, Chiejina dismissed NNPC Ltd’s allegation of facilitating a billion dollar investment due to liquidity concerns. He considers this assertion to be inaccurate in the sense that NNPC Ltd invested this sum as part of a policy aimed at acquiring a 7.24% stake in the refinery.
In other words, the investment was not motivated by financial difficulties of the Dangote refinery, but rather by the strategic choice of the state enterprise to become a commercial partner and benefit from the returns on investment linked to this participation.
It should be recalled that in July, the announcement by Dangote of the reduction of NNPC Ltd’s stake in its refinery initially planned to 20% had raised questions about the capacity of NNPC to honor its financial commitments in occurrence. So far, the NNPC has not yet reacted to its partner’s media outing.
Abdel-Latif Boureima
Edited by Wilfried ASSOGBA
Read also:
09/13/2024 – Nigeria: NNPC wants a permanent presence at the Dangote refinery
