Dangote refinery not a treat to smaller ones—Iheanacho

The chairman of Integrated Oil & Gas Limited, and former Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Emmanuel Iheanacho has allayed the fears that on delivery, the massive Dangote refinery, regarded as the largest in Africa, will take business away from smaller ones.

Speaking in Lagos weekend, he said the coming on stream of Dangote Refinery next few years will only complement efforts of other smaller ones and not push them out of the market.

According to him, “the size of the market you are looking at is the Nigerian market. The size of the market we are looking at is the whole of West Africa. So, if the Nigerian refiners are the ones who produce the finished products, we will consume and then export to Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Gambia and everywhere. The market is there”.

On how the low crude oil price in the global market is affecting the downstream oil sector in Nigeria, the AGPA guber flag bearer in Imo State in the 2015 election said “The market price of oil is not low at this point in time; it is moving up and has gone over the $50 mark and causing problem for those who are playing in that sector”.

“The price that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency uses in determining the pricing template of petrol is lower than the current market price, and so your landing cost is higher than what they want you to sell. It will make that product not to be available in the near future because nobody will touch it.

“And that is why the NNPC told you that people are rejecting dollar supply. In this day and age, do you know of anybody rejecting dollars? There must be a very serious reason why people reject dollar. It is because they know whether or not the dollar is available, you are going to lose money.