Dangote Refinery Accuses PENGASSAN of Economic Sabotage Over Supply Cut Directive

The management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has strongly condemned a directive allegedly issued by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), instructing its branches to halt crude oil and gas supply to the multibillion-dollar refinery.

In a statement released yesterday, the refinery described the union’s action as “brazen lawlessness” and “economic sabotage” capable of inflicting untold hardship on millions of Nigerians.

According to the statement, PENGASSAN, in a circular dated September 26, 2025, ordered its branches in TotalEnergies E&P, Seplat Producing Nigeria, Renaissance, Chevron, Oando, Shell Nigeria Gas, and the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC) to cut off gas supply to Dangote Refinery and shut crude oil supply valves. The directive also instructed branch chairmen to report on compliance.

The refinery management denounced the order as illegal, stressing that PENGASSAN has no authority to interfere with existing supply contracts between the refinery and its vendors.

“Absolutely no law gives PENGASSAN the right to direct its branches to cut off gas and crude oil supplies to Dangote Refinery or at all,” the statement read. “It constitutes criminal conduct to disrupt or interfere in contractual agreements entered into by Dangote Refinery with third-party suppliers.”

The company expressed shock that the directive came barely hours after PENGASSAN issued its own press release vowing to pursue legal action against the refinery.

Dangote Refinery warned that compliance with the directive could trigger shortages in aviation fuel, petrol, kerosene, diesel, and cooking gas—products it described as vital to every Nigerian household.

“In what circumstance would it be justified for PENGASSAN to disrupt and introduce insufferable hardship into the living conditions of Nigerians? None that we can see,” the refinery queried.

Calling the refinery a “strategic national asset” and the largest of its kind in Africa, management warned that the union’s action risked discouraging foreign investment in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

The statement further highlighted the refinery’s role as one of the biggest contributors to government revenues, warning that disruptions in production would have dire fiscal consequences.

The management called on the Federal Government and security agencies to intervene immediately, insisting that PENGASSAN must not be allowed to, in its words, “ride roughshod on Nigerians.”

“The repercussions from the PENGASSAN directive would affect and inflict harm on all Nigerians. This is therefore a fight for all Nigerians,” the company added.

Dangote Refinery urged the union to abandon what it called “illicit and criminal actions” and instead pursue lawful remedies to its grievances, in line with its own earlier commitments.