In trending news, Dangote Refinery kept to the company promise and set to start distribution of refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) to registered petroleum marketers.
AGO which layman knows as diesel is one of the first batches of petroleum products refined by Dangote in Nigeria. The news became a welcome development for Nigerians that supports local production and indigenous-owned companies.
Recall that the Nigerian government removed subsidy in AGO and PMS followed suit in 2023 as announced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It gave rise to the high cost of imported petroleum products as Nigeria in the past didn’t have a functional government-owned refinery including privately owned refinery.
The news about the kickoff of AGO sales and distribution directly manufactured by Dangote may lead to a reduction in the importation of Automotive Gas Oil ( AGO) by independent petroleum marketers as they can easily buy AGO directly from the Dangote refinery and sell to their target markets.
It may also reduce the pressure on the naira as AGO importers who will buy from Dangote may no longer seek dollars to import AGO since they will buy in Nigeria and sell to their target markets in Nigeria.