IPMAN Advises FG to Sell Four NNPC Refineries to Optimise Production, Suggests Buyers
- IPMAN president, Abubakar Shettima, has asked the federal government to consider selling the four refineries in the country to the association
- He noted that selling the refineries now would open up opportunities to bring them up to full capacity and increase fuel production in Nigeria
- He also said with an additional four functional refineries, Nigeria would be better poised to export refined petroleum products and earn foreign exchange
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Abubakar Shettima, National president of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), has urged the federal government to sell the nation's four refineries to people who can manage them optimally.
Shettima noted that although the government owns four refineries—one in Kaduna, one in Warri, and two in Port Harcourt—none of them is operating at optimum production capacity.
Speaking at IPMAN's annual general meeting and the election of new executives for the Western Zone in Ibadan, Oyo state, Shettima stated that this is the best time in history to sell the refineries.
Source: Twitter
He reasoned that with Nigeria being the sixth largest crude producer in the world, having four additional refineries functioning at optimal capacity could entirely change the petroleum industry.
Sell refineries to competent people - IPMAN
According to The Nation, Shettima explained that the sales should not be done randomly but rather to competent people like the Independent Petroleum Marketers.
He said;
“If the government can take a bold step in selling these refineries to independent petroleum marketers, it will add more value to Nigeria.”
Fuel prices to drop further
Speaking further, Shettima commended the efforts of President Bola Tinubu's administration in deregulating the petroleum sector immediately after he assumed power.
He observed that this opened the industry to investors and predicted that the fuel price would still drop in the coming months with the NNPC refineries commencing operations.
He explained;
“With the refineries functioning, the pressure on Nigeria naira will reduce and the dollar rate will come down. When the price of dollars is down, the price of the petroleum products will come down.”
Contrary to past years when long fuel queues characterized the Yuletide season, there were no queues this time due to the abundance of the product, Shettima argued.
NAN reports that Chief Oyewole Akanni emerged as zonal chairman in the elections to succeed Alhaji Dele Tajudeen.
Global crude prices push fuel prices up
Recall that fuel prices now sell as high as N1200 in some filling stations in Lagos state. This is not unconnected with the recent rise in global crude prices.
Dangote refinery also announced an increase in the bulk price of fuel just last weekend. The management also blamed the hike on the rising cost of global crude oil from $75 to $80 per barrel.
Filling stations nationwide have now adjusted their pump price to reflect the increased price.
NNPC releases fuel price list
In related news, Legit.ng reported that NNPC has released a new fuel price list for its retail outlets across Nigeria.
Based on the new list, a litre of fuel will now sell for N960 in Lagos state compared to the earlier price of N925.
In other retail outlets, the price has increased from N960 to N990.
NNPCL said the price increase shows the reality of market dynamics, which aligns with the deregulation policy in the downstream petroleum sector, allowing prices to reflect demands.
Proofreading by James, Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
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