New Prices Imminent as Marketers Move to Import Petrol to Rival Dangote
- Petroleum marketers have said that they would soon begin petrol import to support production from the Dangote Refinery
- The marketers said that the PMS currently produced by the Lagos-based refinery was not enough to meet domestic demand
- They disclosed that Dangote is producing less than the required volume of PMS, hence the desire to import
Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.
Oil marketers have disclosed that the volume of petrol produced by the Dangote Refinery cannot meet domestic demand.
As a result of the development, marketers plan to import the product to make up for the supply from the refinery’s shortfall.
Source: Getty Images
TUC calls on Dangote refinery to ramp up production
The marketers agreed with the Trade Union Congress to ask that the facility ramp production, with some saying that the refinery produced about 10 million litres of petrol daily against the promised 25 million litres.
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According to reports, on September 15, 2024, when the plant commenced the release of petrol marketers, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) was supposed to load 16.8 million litres of petrol from the refinery.
The 16.8 million litres contrasts with the 25 million the plant said it would release to the NNPC daily.
Marketers move to import petrol
Punch reports that on September 3, 2024, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority said the refinery would supply 25 million litres of PMS daily to the domestic market starting September 2024.
NMDPRA added that the production would gradually rise to 30 million litres from September.
The agency disclosed that it met with NNPC to agree on supplying crude oil to the refinery.
However, on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, marketers said that the $20 billion refinery was not producing enough PMS to saturate the local market, agreeing with the TUC to call on the refinery to hasten production, or this will be handled via petrol imports by dealers.
One of the significant marketers said that the Dangote refinery was producing 10 million litres of petrol. In contrast, petrol consumption figures released by the NMDPRA showed that Nigeria needed about 40 million litres of petrol daily.
According to the marketers, the country would have started seeing long queues if petrol prices had remained low.
The national vice president of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Hammed Fashola, disclosed that the association would soon commence petrol import.
He said this was why the association acquired two tank farms in Calabar and Lagos.
He said the marketers were free to begin importing petrol, saying the dealers would get their import licence soon and buy from the Dangote Refinery.
The development comes as NNPC agreed to sell petrol to Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) members at N995 per litre.
DSS intervenes between IPMAN and NNPC
The development comes amid the Department of State Services intervention in the face-off between the marketers and the state oil firm.
Hammed Fashola, IPMAN’s national vice president, disclosed that the DSS intervention solved several marketers' problems.
He confirmed that due to the intervention, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) agreed to pay the association its outstanding N10 billion as it resolved issues concerning the direct purchase of petrol from the Dangote refinery.
Fashola said the NNPC is tentatively offering to sell petrol to IPMAN at N995 per litre.
He assured the association members that, with the new ex-depot price, he would sell petrol cheaper than other significant marketers.
He, however, said that distance is another determining factor.
IPMAN to sell petrol at N1,200
The IPMAN official said they will sell at N1,200, depending on the location. The new price will be a slight reduction, but the official stressed that trucking the product to a far distance will mean higher prices.
He could not disclose the exact price, but the association works on it, especially in the Lagos area and other zones.
Punch reports that Fashola said that IPMAN is interested in competitive prices, stressing that the price disparity has discouraged independent marketers.
NNPC, oil marketers agree on new fuel price
Legit.ng earlier reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has agreed to lower the ex-depot petrol price to N955 per litre for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
The development was confirmed by Abubakar Maigandi, President of IPMAN, following negotiation.
This decision will now pave the way for the resumption of fuel loading at depots across the country.
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Source: Legit.ng
