The battle for Nigeria’s fuel market intensifies as NNPC Limited accuses Dangote Refinery of attempting to establish a monopoly. In a high-stakes legal defense, NNPC warns that restricting import licenses for rival marketers could trigger supply disruptions and threaten national energy security. Is the refinery a savior or a rising monopoly?
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Limited 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 seen by Reuters.
In a proposed defence filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos, NNPC said granting Dangote’s request to void or restrict import permits would expose Africa’s largest oil producer to supply disruptions, price instability and risks to national energy security.
NNPC rejected that argument, saying the law allows import licences to companies with local refining licences or proven records in international crude and petroleum-product trading.
It said regulators had discretion to manage imports under Nigeria’s backward-integration policy and that there was no mandatory ban on imports except in cases of domestic shortfall.
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, the court documents show.
Dangote declined to comment while the case is ongoing.
NNPC denied allegations that it had sabotaged Dangote’s refinery or deliberately withheld crude. It said crude allocations depended on operational, commercial, security and logistical factors.
The court has scheduled a hearing in the coming weeks.
Fuel marketers have also opposed Dangote’s suit, warning it could hurt competition and supply security.
