Dangote Refinery Supports Gantry Loading, Warns Against Costly Coastal Evacuation
Elegbede Abiodun
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reassured of its commitment to supplying high quality petroleum products at competitive and affordable prices, urging marketers and policymakers to prioritise logistics choices that support price stability and consumer welfare.
The refinery said its position is anchored on sustained investments in critical infrastructure, including a world class gantry facility with 91 loading bays capable of loading up to 2,900 tankers daily. Operating on a 24-hour basis, the facility can evacuate over 50 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit PMS, 14 million litres of Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) and other refined products each day.
While the refinery remains open to coastal loading where logistics make it necessary, it maintained that gantry loading remains the most economically efficient and operationally effective option. According to the refinery, direct gantry evacuation eliminates port charges, maritime levies and vessel related costs that do not add value to end users, helping to optimise costs, improve distribution efficiency and support price stability.
Dangote Refinery clarified that marketers are free to choose their preferred mode of evacuation, noting that PMS and other refined products are made available at competitive gantry prices. “However, reliance on coastal delivery, particularly within Lagos, may introduce avoidable costs with material implications for fuel pricing, consumer welfare and overall economic wellbeing. In our opinion, coastal logistics can add approximately N75 per litre to the cost of petrol, which, if passed on to consumers, would push the pump price of PMS close to N1,000 per litre”.
Based on Nigeria’s average daily consumption of about 50 million litres of PMS and 14 million litres of diesel, the refinery estimated that sustained dependence on coastal logistics could impose an additional annual cost of roughly N1.752 trillion. This cost, it said, would ultimately be borne either by producers or Nigerian consumers.
The refinery also renewed calls for coordinated investment in pipeline infrastructure nationwide, arguing that functional pipelines linking refineries to depots would significantly cut distribution costs, improve supply reliability and strengthen national energy security.
Addressing claims that it imports finished petroleum products, Dangote Refinery strongly refuted the allegations, describing them as misleading. It explained that while its Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit is currently undergoing maintenance, it only imports intermediate feedstock in line with global industry practice. The refinery challenged anyone with credible evidence of finished product importation to present it to the appropriate regulatory authorities, adding that such claims are often driven by interests seeking to justify continued dependence on fuel imports.
Dangote Refinery said domestic refining has already delivered measurable benefits to the Nigerian economy. Since commencement of operations, the price of diesel has fallen from about N1,700 per litre to N1,100 and currently trades between N980 and N990. Similarly, PMS prices have declined from about N1,250 per litre to between N839 and N900.
It added that increased local supply has sharply reduced fuel importation, eased foreign exchange pressures and improved market stability, contributing to a stronger naira, which recently traded at about N1,385 to the dollar.
The refinery reiterated its commitment to efficiency, transparency and price stability in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector, urging marketers, regulators and policymakers to support logistics and distribution decisions that align with national economic interests, protect consumers and sustain the long-term benefits of domestic
