The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it has been mobilising trucks to the petrol-loading gantry of Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
In a statement on Saturday, the national oil company said the deployment of trucks to the refinery is in preparation for the commencement of petrol supply by the refiner on Sunday.
As of Saturday afternoon, NNPC said it had deployed over 100 trucks to the site, with more on their way to the refinery.
“In preparation for the Dangote Refinery’s scheduled petrol loading on Sunday, September 15, 2024, NNPC Ltd. has been mobilizing trucks to the refinery’s fuel loading gantry in Ibeju-Lekki,” NNPC said.
“As of Saturday afternoon, NNPC Ltd. had deployed over 100 trucks, with hundreds more en route.”
The deployment of trucks followed a statement by the federal government on Friday that NNPC will be the sole distributor of petrol produced by Dangote refinery.
There had been confusion over the off-taker for petrol produced by Dangote refinery, with NNPC denying reports that it plans to be a sole distributor while claiming oil marketers can buy directly from the refinery.
However, the government said oil marketers can buy diesel directly from the refinery but NNPC will be the off-taker for petrol, and then distribute the product to interested oil marketers.
Dangote refinery commenced petrol production on September 3.
Speaking on the commencement of production, Aliko Dangote, the Dangote Industries Limited chairman, said the refinery is completing final arrangements with the NNPC, after which its products will be available in the market.
On the same day, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said the Dangote refinery is expected to supply 25 million litres of petrol daily in September and will subsequently increase this amount to 30 million litres daily from October.