The Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria has warned that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s plan to bypass existing distribution channels and supply refined petroleum products directly to end-users would lead to a nationwide disruption, long-term product scarcity, and the collapse of existing supply networks.

The oil and gas suppliers called on the refinery to halt its plan and seek further dialogue before commencing the distribution of products to end users, urging it to learn from what happened to non-functional refineries under the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

They also called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the issue, stressing that Dangote alone cannot handle nationwide distribution of products sustainably. The NOGASA National President, Bennett Korie, made the call during the association’s Annual General Meeting held on Thursday in Abuja.

However, an official of the Dangote Group described the position of the dealers as anti-Nigeria, arguing that the plan by Dangote was to remove the cost of logistics in the movement of petrol nationwide.

Speaking with Newsmen, while reacting to the development, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said Nigerians should not rejoice yet over the announcement by the Dangote refinery, as he backed the sister oil marketing group, NOGASA.

Meanwhile, it was observed on Thursday that the prices of petrol at depots spiked by up to seven per cent, from the N815 per litre it sold on Wednesday to N870 per litre on Thursday.

Punch