A prominent Nigerian business leader and former head of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Dele Oye, has made a forceful public case for ending Nigeria’s dependence on imported refined petroleum products, arguing that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery can save the country over N15 trillion annually in fuel import costs while generating an estimated $11 billion in foreign exchange inflows through local refining and petroleum exports.
Oye cited official data showing that Nigeria spent approximately N15.42 trillion on petrol imports in 2024 — a figure he described as a significant and ongoing drain on the country’s foreign exchange reserves and a structural vulnerability in its energy architecture. He argued that the Dangote Refinery, with a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, has the ability to meet over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s domestic fuel demand and could substantially reduce import dependence if fully integrated into the national supply chain. He further estimated that increased reliance on domestic refining could prevent between $6 billion and $11 billion in annual foreign exchange outflows, reducing pressure on the naira and improving macroeconomic stability across the broader economy.
Responding directly to NNPC’s court arguments that halting imports would create a dangerous monopoly, Oye dismissed the framing as a deliberate misrepresentation — saying NNPC is not defending competition but defending importation, and not protecting energy security but perpetuating dependency. He said the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act both prioritise domestic refining and local value addition, with fuel imports intended only as a short-term measure where local capacity is insufficient — not as a permanent arrangement when a 650,000-bpd domestic refinery is operational. He questioned NNPC’s consistency in invoking monopoly risks from a private refinery while itself continuing to rely heavily on foreign supply chains for domestic fuel consumption.
Oye called for a review of import licensing under the Petroleum Industry Act, stronger regulatory protection for domestic refineries, fiscal incentives to encourage additional private sector investment in refining infrastructure, greater transparency in refinery rehabilitation projects, and accountability for past turnaround maintenance expenditures on state-owned facilities. He referenced Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India, and the United States as global models where domestic refining capacity is protected and supported through targeted industrial policies, arguing that Nigeria risks undermining its industrialisation agenda if it fails to adopt a similar framework.
Source: thenationonlineng.net