The Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has disclosed that Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and other strategic investors are interested in taking stakes in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP), but divulge details of the potential investments because of non-disclosure agreements (NDA).

Dangote spoke with journalists in Lagos on Monday after a signing event connected to the refinery’s planned share offering, where he was asked to confirm reports that ADNOC was seeking a stake in the facility.

He said the refinery’s share offering was not “prompted by the current Middle East crisis or other temporary market conditions, insisting that its financial projections were based on normal market conditions.”

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Asked specifically whether ADNOC was joining as an investor and whether other strategic investors were also seeking stakes, Dangote said the company had “agreements with several parties but could not disclose details.”

“I don’t want to—you know, there is what you call an NDA, you know, non-disclosure agreement. So, we have agreements with other people; it’s not only ADNOC, other people too. They are very, very interested.

“There are other governments too; they have invested and they are also investing more money, you know,” he said.

Dangote said the level of interest in the refinery had surprised the company, citing demand recorded during an earlier offer to private investors.

“So, the investment really, like what I said; it is actually shocking to us how people are very, very interested in investing in this, you know, refinery.

“And it has shown: when we wanted to sell only $1 billion worth of shares to our private investors, and you know, we got 3.7 times the demand!

“What was paid into our accounts was 3.7 billion instead of 1 billion, and we had to be forced to take $2.5 billion, and we returned 1.2 billion out there,” he noted.

He said the demand could be even stronger when the current offer is opened to investors.

Dangote stated, “So, even this one, I’m sure if we are to open for two days and close, the number of shares we want to sell will be all sold out.”

Responding to a question about whether the refinery’s current profitability would be sustained after temporary geopolitical disruptions ease, Dangote said the company’s calculations were based on normal market conditions.

“Okay, well, the refinery, based on the numbers that, you know, we have that have actually come into the market, okay, this IPO we started a long time ago, so it did not start because of the war in the Middle East, no.

“Our own basis of calculation is based on normal days. When I say normal days, before the Middle Eastern crisis. What money can we make when we refine oil? And that is why we actually now sat down and we did our numbers, and we see that, no, it’s good for us to invite other people,” he declared.

Dangote said the company did not intend to build its business model around temporary crises.

The businessman noted, “Of course, Middle Eastern crisis, the crisis of Ukraine-Russia, it’s not going to go on forever; it will stop one day.

“So, you cannot base your business based on that. You know, we don’t base our business based on crisis. No, we base the businesses based on a normal trend. Okay, we don’t go and base it. Whatever that we have over and above, that is icing on the cake. That’s what we are checking.”

He said the refinery was intended as a long-term investment.

“So, we didn’t really say, “Oh no, no, there is a crisis,” because if you base it on that, what about tomorrow when they settle all these issues? Then it means that we are not going to be able to satisfy our own shareholders.

“This is a lifetime investment. This refinery is not about 10 years, 20, 30, or 50 years; it will actually outlive the whole of us here.

“It should be running for the next 50, 60, 70 years, and I don’t believe there’s any one of us here that will live in the next 70 years,” he concluded.

Goldman Sachs has predicted that oil prices could surge to as much as $120 per barrel if attacks on ships in the Middle East intensify.

The development has further triggered a hike in petrol prices with a litre selling at N1310 per litre on Monday from 1,290 per litre on Friday.

Some marketers shared that price movements in some depots could have equally been responsible for the hike.

According to Petroleumprice.ng, an online petroleum products trading platform, Soroman and A.Y.M Shafa as of Monday were trading at N1295 per litre.

On crude prices, Goldman Sachs said “Events over the last few days do suggest that the risk of shipping disruptions broadening and intensifying is an important one,” Daan Struyven, co-head of global commodities research at Goldman Sachs, told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Monday.

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Oil prices have rallied in recent days amid the re-escalation of hostilities and jumped early on Monday in Asian trading to the highest level since mid-July, nearing the $100 per barrel threshold.

The situation escalated further this weekend after the U.S. said it had struck three Iranian oil tankers in response to the IRGC targeting two U.S. warships with ballistic missiles.

Following the attacks, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said that the era of “proportionate responses” is now over, and warned that future retaliations from Iran will be “faster, heavier and more painful.” Iran also said it would announce in the coming days a new “exclusion zone” which “will begin from the line of the U.S. naval blockade, extend toward the Strait of Hormuz, and from this side continue into the Persian Gulf.”

“Any ship that enters this area with the intention of passing through the Strait of Hormuz and is identified will be placed on our sanctions list,” Mohsen Rezaei, the new head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Sunday.

Early on Monday, Brent Crude traded at over $97 per barrel, while the U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, was above $92 a barrel.

Goldman sees “meaningful upside to crude oil prices,” Struyven told Bloomberg, but added that investors should bet on rising natural gas and refined product prices.

In gas and fuels, “the supply shocks are bigger than in the crude market,” the expert said.

“Strike our assets and you get struck,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Monday, ​in what appeared to be a response to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s warning that Tehran’s oil fleet was “defenseless”.

The United ⁠States and Iran traded strikes on oil tankers and warships over the weekend, marking a major escalation of the war between the two countries​that began when the U.S. and Israel struck Iran on February 28, maritime intelligence firm Marisks said.

“Commercial tankers are now being deliberately used as instruments of reciprocal ​economic pressure, substantially weakening the previous distinction between military confrontation and commercial shipping,” Marisks said.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority is weighing its next move to prevent it from losing regulatory authority over midstream and downstream companies located in free trade zones.

Last week, a Federal High Court in Lagos issued an interim injunction restraining the NMDPRA from shutting down or interfering with the operations of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in the Lekki Free Zone, Lagos.

Justice Akintayo Aluko made the order while ruling on a motion ex parte marked FHC/L/CS/1174/26, filed and argued by counsel to Dangote Petroleum Refinery Nigeria Limited, led by Olawale Akoni and Abimbola Akeredolu.

The refinery had approached the court following a letter dated August 24, 2026, in which the NMDPRA allegedly directed the suspension of the loading and truck-out of petroleum products from the refinery.

In his ruling, Justice Aluko said he had carefully considered the application, the affidavit evidence, exhibits and submissions of counsel, including the NMDPRA’s letter. The judge noted that the refinery’s case was that the NMDPRA lacked regulatory or oversight powers over operations within free zones, including the Dangote Industrial Free Zone.

Justice Aluko also referred to a letter dated March 2, 2026, issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation, which, according to the judge, stated that the NMDPRA was not entitled to exercise regulatory powers or oversight functions over operations within free zones.

READ ALSO: DPRP Set for Landmark IPO to Raise ₦2.15 Trillion

The judge further held that the refinery had satisfied the conditions required for the grant of an interim injunction. “Accordingly, I find merit in the application, and the same is hereby granted in terms of the reliefs sought,” Aluko ruled.

When contacted, the spokesman of the NMDPRA, George Ene-Ita, declined further comments on the matter, saying, “I can’t comment on a case before the court.”

While not denying the NMDPRA’s letter to shut the Dangote refinery, Ene-Ita refused to give details on why the regulator ordered the refinery to stop loading.

However, other senior officials within the NMDPRA disclosed that the regulator is weighing the next move as far as the case and the ruling are concerned. It was gathered that the agency’s legal team and its management “will decide the next line of action”.

In May, the NMDPRA declared that petroleum companies operating in free zones, export processing zones and other designated areas in Nigeria remain fully subject to the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and regulations issued under the law. The regulator stated this in an industry circular.

Free zones are designated areas created by the government to encourage investment and industrial activities through tax incentives, customs waivers and simplified business regulations. They include export processing zones, industrial parks and special economic zones where companies often enjoy exemptions from certain taxes and administrative procedures.

However, the NMDPRA stressed that such incentives do not exempt oil and gas operators from petroleum sector regulations under the PIA. “The operation of any midstream or downstream petroleum facility within a free zone, export processing zone or similar area does not exempt such facility and its operations from compliance with the provisions of the PIA and regulations made thereunder,” it stated.

In the circular addressed to managing directors and chief executives of oil and gas midstream companies, downstream firms, petrochemical and fertiliser companies, as well as import and export terminals, the authority reaffirmed its statutory powers over all midstream and downstream petroleum activities nationwide.

It explained that the regulatory mandate of the agency extends to all midstream and downstream petroleum activities and applies throughout Nigeria, including the continental shelf, territorial waters, exclusive economic zone, free zones, export processing zones, industrial zones and any other designated areas.

The agency said it was the statutory regulator responsible for the technical, commercial, operational and licensing regulation of all midstream and downstream petroleum operations in Nigeria.

It informed operators that all midstream and downstream petroleum operations, including refining, processing, storage, bulk transportation, pipelines, gas transportation networks, terminals, jetties, wholesale supply, importation, exportation, distribution and the sale of natural gas and petroleum liquids, are subject to its regulatory oversight.

With the current ruling, the NMDPRA is expected to defend its authority over free zones while the court decides whether or not it has such powers.

In its application, the Dangote refinery has asked the court to restrain the regulator, its officers, agents, representatives, privies or any person acting under its authority from enforcing or implementing the directive to shut the facility pending the hearing and determination of its motion on notice.

The company also sought an interim injunction restraining the NMDPRA and its agents from entering, sealing, shutting down, restricting access to, obstructing, suspending, disrupting, inspecting, supervising, sanctioning or otherwise interfering with its refinery, petrochemical, terminal, storage, blending, loading, truck-out and related facilities and operations within the Lekki Free Zone.

After granting the injunction, the court subsequently adjourned the case until September 9, 2026, for hearing of the motion on notice.

Courtesy – The Punch