*Warns Suit Threatens Supply, Price Stability, Energy Security
*Says Dangote Cannot Prove Ability To Meet Total Fuel Demand
THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has accused Dangote Petroleum Refinery of seeking to restrict competition and expose the country’s fuel market to monopoly control by challenging import licences issued to rival marketers, according to court documents.
According to Reuters, NNPCL, in a proposed defence filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos, said granting Dangote’s request to void or restrict import permits would expose Nigeria to supply disruptions, price instability and risks to national energy security.
Nigeria’s energy regulator, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), has applied to join the case, widening a legal battle over import policy and Dangote Refinery’s market position.
The dispute comes months before Dangote’s planned September IPO of its refinery business, adding uncertainty over market rules, import competition and the revenue outlook investors may assign to the 650,000-barrel-per-day plant.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery filed the suit in April this year against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), challenging fuel import licences issued or renewed by NMDPRA to marketers and NNPC, arguing that the licences undermine local refining and violate provisions of Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Act.
NNPC, however, rejected the argument, insisting that the law allows import licences to companies with local refining licences or proven records in international crude and petroleum-product trading.
It added that regulators have discretion to manage imports under Nigeria’s backward-integration policy and there was no mandatory ban on imports, except in cases of domestic shortfall.
According to the court documents, NNPC also said Dangote had not provided “credible, independent or verifiable evidence” that the refinery could meet Nigeria’s total fuel demand or guarantee uninterrupted nationwide supply.
Dangote declined to comment while the case is ongoing.
NNPC denied allegations that it had sabotaged Dangote’s refinery or deliberately withheld crude, saying crude allocations depended on operational, commercial, security and logistical factors.
Fuel marketers have also opposed the suit, warning that it could hurt competition and supply security.
The court has scheduled a hearing in the coming weeks.
