Aliko Dangote, chairman of the Dangote Group,has announced that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited no longer owns a 20% stake in the Dangote Refinery.
Dangote who disclosed this during a press briefing at the refinery on Sunday, said that the Nigerian oil company now owns only 7.2% of the refinery due to the NNPC's failure to pay the balance of their share, which was due last month in June.
According to him, while the NNPC had promised to provide the funds, it has been unable to meet its obligations, thus reducing its stake in the $19 billion refinery to 7.2%.
"NNPC no longer owns 20% stake in the Dangote refinery. They were met to pay their balance in June, but have yet to fulfill the obligations. Now, they only own a 7.2% stake in the refinery," he said.
The NNPC had in 2021 initiated talks with the Dangote Group about purchasing a 20 percent minority equity stake in its 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery.
Mustapha Yakubu, NNPC chief operating officer, refining and petrochemicals, had disclosed this at the 2021 edition of the Nigerian Oil & Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF).
He said the deal will further ensure undisrupted petroleum products supply to Nigerians.
“We have what we call the green field refinery and the Greenfield Refining Projects Division (GRPD) of the NNPC. What we do, our strategy is to collaborate and seek strategic partnerships with private investors,” Yakubu had said.
“At the moment, we have Dangote Refinery, which is the 650,000 capacity barrels per day plus a mini 80,000 tonnes per annum petrochemical plant.
“What are we doing there? I can tell you today that we are seeking to have a 20 per cent minority stake in Dangote Refinery as part of our collaboration and you know that there’s a huge quantity of crude for that refinery.
“That’s 650,000 barrels, going into a single crude distillation unit (CDU). When that comes on board, it will also wet the nation for us.”
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