The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has the opportunity to increase its 7.2 per cent stake in the Dangote refinery.

However, Dangote said this would happen after he must have proven to the state-owned company what the refinery can do.

Dangote stated this in a recent interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights.

“The door remains open for Nigerian National Petroleum Co. to boost its stake after the state oil company trimmed its interest to 7.2 per cent, but not before its next phase of growth is well underway.

“I want to demonstrate what this refinery can do, then we can sit down and talk,” Dangote was quoted as saying.

A close aide of Dangote was also reported to have said that the company would exert caution before inviting additional participation from NNPC.

Within the next year, he noted that the refining business will list 5–10 per cent of its shares on the Nigerian stock exchange.

“We don’t want to keep more than 65-70 per cent,” Dangote said, explaining that shares will be offered incrementally subject to investor appetite and market depth.

The NNPC had reduced its stake in the Dangote refinery from 20 per cent to 7.2 per cent.

The former spokesperson of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Olufemi Soneye, disclosed last year that the state-owned energy firm reduced its stake in the Dangote refinery to invest in compressed natural gas.

Soneye revealed that the NNPC capped its stake at 7.2 per cent instead of 20 per cent to build CNG stations across the nation.

He stated this while featuring on Berekete Family Radio, a video of which was sighted by our correspondent.

He mentioned that the NNPC realised that CNG was more affordable as a better energy alternative for Nigerians, especially during the period of energy transition.

He added that Nigerians could fuel their vehicles with N10,000 when using CNG, compared to petrol.

“The reason for reducing our stake in the Dangote refinery is because we wanted to invest in CNG. We observed that CNG is very cheap, and all over the world, people are investing in clean and cheaper alternative energy.

“That is why the NNPC is building different CNG stations everywhere. We understand that with N10,000, Nigerians can fill their cars and use it for two weeks. We realised that gas is cheaper in Nigeria; why don’t we invest in it?” the former NNPC spokesman said in August 2024.

The new Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Bayo Ojulari, had recently told Argus Media that NNPC remains committed to increasing its stake in the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery.

Many Nigerians were surprised to hear from Dangote in 2024 the NNPC had trimmed its investment in the refinery to a paltry 7.2 per cent.