Nigeria’s 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) Dangote Refinery said this week that it had identified individuals who had claimed the plant was importing petrol into the country, calling the allegation “misleading” in a statement made on February 9.

According to the statement, Dangote plans reveal the identities of the people responsible and will take legal action against them at the “appropriate time”.

“This propaganda is being promoted by unpatriotic and unscrupulous individuals who cannot afford to see Nigeria stop imports,” the company noted, while adding that the allegations had been made by people who had benefited from “fraudulent financial transactions” linked to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) rehabilitation of state-owned refineries.

Dangote’s statement comes after plant CEO David Bird remarked that it was not importing petroleum products, but rather intermediate feedstocks typically used in the refining process.

Claims made by yet-unnamed people said that the refinery was buying and importing refined products such as petrol, in contrast to Bird’s comments.

Dangote continued to note that it only imported “intermediate streams and blending components, such as high-sulphur reformates and low-RON condensates, which require further processing before meeting market specifications,” adding that none of these materials were petrol, and that they could not be sold as such. “This practice is standard among large refineries in Europe and Asia,” the statement said.

According to the plant, the issue surrounding fuel imports had already been discussed at an S&P Global forum in the UK, where attendees highlighted Dangote’s success in improving Nigeria’s refining capabilities.

Currently, Dangote supplies only Euro 5-compliant petrol to the Nigerian market and has single-handedly improved fuel quality across the country, thanks in part to a reduction in reliance on high-sulphur petrol imports.

Dangote advised industry stakeholders to maintain accuracy when publicly reporting on the plant’s operations.