“That is not good for the nation in terms of energy security and that is not good for markets in terms of monopoly,” Farouk Ahmed, head of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Agency, told reporters. He explained that the refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage and has not been licensed yet, and that relying solely on one refinery for national supply would promote monopoly and jeopardise energy security. Ahmed’s comments come in response to allegations by Dangote Industries Limited that IOCs were making it difficult for them to access local crude, forcing them to use middlemen and pay inflated prices.
BLOOMBERG
