Marketers are calling for direct access to Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) from the Dangote refinery, expressing frustration over the tight control exerted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the market.
Chinedu Ukadike, the National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, emphasized that the market should operate on a basis of fairness, adhering to the willing-buyer and willing-seller principle previously committed to by the corporation.
In response, the NNPCL clarified last Saturday that it is not the exclusive off-taker of products from the Dangote refinery, stating that the refinery has the freedom to sell its petrol to any marketer.
However, just a week after that announcement, the Federal Government declared that the company would be the exclusive buyer of petrol from the refinery.
During a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, stated that marketers interested in purchasing petrol would need to acquire it from the national oil company via its trading arm.
The minister, who was represented by Dr. Zacceus Adedeji, the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, also revealed that the Dangote refinery would begin distributing petrol to marketers on Sunday, starting with an initial supply of 25 million litres per day.
“I am glad to announce that all agreements have been put in place, and the loading of the first batch of PMS, as already announced by NNPC, will commence on Sunday, September 15, 2024. And from October 1, NNPC will commence the supply of crude oil to the Dangote refinery to be paid in naira”.He said.
In response, Ukadike emphasized the need for market liberalization.
“It should be open for all in line with the willing-buyer and willing-seller comments made by the NNPC. We are also looking at how to build our logistics and come up with our price,” he stated.
Additionally, Billy Gillis-Harry, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Association of Nigeria, expressed worries about the potential risks of establishing a new domestic monopoly in the oil and gas industry.
Gillis-Harry said, “Right now, even on Saturday, that business (petrol) is going to start rolling out tomorrow (Sunday), we don’t know what the price might be. Nobody has informed us about anything; we are not aware of what the government is doing.
“We don’t know any of the pricing templates yet or the matrix that will bring about the pricing template. We have been asking Dangote or anybody that is in charge of this transaction to be transparent, but somehow, we have not got any of that information.
“We are about to leave NNPC monopoly from importation and now we are also going to have that in a domestic environment, that portends danger for the industry.”
On Saturday, the NNPC announced that it had deployed 300 trucks to transport Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the Dangote refinery today.
Olufemi Soneye, the corporation’s spokesperson, informed one of our reporters that the mobilization of trucks to the refinery was in accordance with the agreement established between both parties regarding the lifting of petrol from the $20 billion Lekki-based facility.
Oil marketers confirmed that the NNPC has begun dispatching trucks to the plant to load products, noting that the national oil company would also utilize its vessels for loading Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
They further mentioned that the price of Dangote petrol has not yet been disclosed, indicating that independent marketers will only be able to purchase the product from the NNPC at this time.
Mustapha Zarma, the National Operations Controller of IPMAN, stated, Independent marketers have not received any offers from Dangote to determine the actual off-take price.
According to a report, it has been learned that the Dangote refinery will sell its petrol to the NNPC at a price of N766.
Various sources from the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, NNPC, and leading energy marketers have confirmed that the agreement to supply crude to the Dangote refinery in naira significantly influenced the price of PMS.
In response to the Dangote fuel price, a senior official from IPMAN stated that if marketers were able to procure the product at N766, they would have to factor in transportation costs, levies, and other margins.
