Dangote Petroleum Refinery has refuted allegations that petroleum products refined at its facility are being exported to Lomé, Togo, and later brought back into Nigeria for sale.
The company, in a statement released on its official X account on Tuesday, described the claim as false and inconsistent with commercial realities in the petroleum sector.
According to the refinery, it rarely responds to unverified allegations but decided to address the issue because of the growing circulation of what it called misleading information.
“As a matter of policy, we do not respond to baseless and unsubstantiated claims because our focus remains on supporting energy security in Nigeria and across Africa,” the statement said. “However, we consider it necessary to set the record straight on this false narrative.”
The refinery explained that its business strategy is centred on strengthening its presence in the Nigerian fuel market, making it illogical to support imports that would compete with its own products.
“A key objective of Dangote Refinery is to maintain and strengthen its position as a leading supplier of petroleum products to the Nigerian market. Facilitating imports that compete directly with our own production would be inconsistent with this objective,” the company stated.
The management further disclosed that its contracts with buyers expressly prohibit the resale or re-importation of products into Nigeria.
It also argued that the economics of such an arrangement do not make business sense, noting that transporting fuel from the refinery to Togo and then back into Nigeria would attract significant additional costs.
“The estimated logistics cost of moving products from Dangote Refinery to Lomé and subsequently back into Nigeria is approximately $80 to $90 per metric ton. These additional costs would significantly reduce profitability and make such transactions commercially unattractive,” the statement added.
According to the refinery, it does not offer export incentives or discounts that could make such a trade route profitable for buyers.
“There is no commercial incentive for a producer to incur extra shipping, storage, financing and handling costs only for the products to return and compete in its largest and nearest market,” it said.
The company also highlighted its compliance and monitoring procedures, stating that detailed records are maintained for every product sale, including vessel nominations, lifting points, counterparties and destination declarations where necessary.
“Any suggestion that the refinery is knowingly facilitating re-importation is inconsistent with the contractual restrictions imposed on buyers and our established compliance procedures,” the management said.
Dangote Refinery reiterated its long-standing position that Nigeria should reduce dependence on imported petroleum products, arguing that excessive imports undermine local refining capacity, put pressure on foreign exchange reserves and weaken industrial growth.
“It would be inconsistent with both our commercial interests and publicly stated position to support practices that increase fuel imports into Nigeria,” the company maintained.
The refinery concluded that there is neither a strategic nor economic basis for exporting products to neighbouring countries for subsequent re-importation into Nigeria.
“The allegation is not supported by the economics of the trade, our contractual arrangements, product traceability systems or our commitment to strengthening domestic refining and reducing dependence on imports,” the statement said.
