“Nigeria’s Refining Future at Risk: CORAN Calls for Truce Between Dangote and DAPPMAN”

The Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) has called for restraint in the escalating dispute between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), warning that the clash could undermine the country’s refining progress.

In a statement issued on Thursday in Lagos and signed by its Chairman, Momoh Oyarekhua, the association stressed that both parties must put national interest above rivalry. It cautioned that the ongoing public exchanges over pricing, product supply, and market structure risk derailing Nigeria’s long-awaited refining revolution.

CORAN noted that the commissioning of the Dangote Refinery, alongside several modular refineries, signals a turning point in Nigeria’s energy sector after decades of dependence on fuel imports. The association urged marketers and tank farm operators to embrace collaboration with domestic refiners to remain relevant in the evolving energy landscape, stressing that refineries rely on marketers for product evacuation, storage, and retail distribution.

While commending DAPPMAN for sustaining fuel supply during years of heavy importation, CORAN emphasised that synergy with local refiners is now essential for price stability, energy security, and economic transformation. It added that both DAPPMAN and Dangote have made sacrifices in the national interest and deserve recognition. “Nigeria cannot afford to let rivalry derail this refining renaissance. The path forward is clear: collaboration, not confrontation,” the association declared.

Meanwhile, the Dangote Refinery, in its latest statement on Thursday, reaffirmed its stance, insisting it will not absorb logistics costs that marketers are attempting to pass on as subsidies.