Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has agreed to supply Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) for N995 per litre.
The Department of State Services intervened in the dispute between the two parties. Hammed Fashola, IPMAN’s National Vice President, informed our reporter that the DSS involvement alleviated many of the challenges that merchants had.
Fashola also acknowledged that, as a result of their participation, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority agreed to pay the association’s unpaid N10 billion while settling concerns around the direct purchase of fuel from the Dangote refinery.
“We really appreciate their intervention. They are doing their job. Anywhere they have seen that there may be a crisis, it is their duty to intervene. And their intervention brokered peace and understanding between the parties, and everybody agreed to work together,” Fashola stated.
Asked to disclose how much the NNPC will sell PMS to IPMAN, he replied, “For now, tentatively, I think they are offering us N995 per litre.”
With the N995 ex-depot price, Fashola assured that IPMAN members would no longer sell at prices much higher than that of major marketers, saying, however, that distance is another factor for pricey PMS.
“Our members sell at N1,200 or so and this depends on the location. I think with the N995, there will be a little reduction. Don’t forget that if you transport a product from Lagos to a far distance, you will pay for transportation and other charges.
“We want to work on that because we want to have a common ground. When we sit down and look at the price analysis offered to us, and factor in all our expenses, we want to have a uniform price as much as possible.
“So, I will not be able to tell you the exact price now, but we are working on it, especially in the Lagos axis and other zones. We will look at the transportation cost and all that. At the end of the day, we will fix the price for ourselves,” he stated.
The IPMAN leader emphasised that IPMAN is interested in prices that would be competitive, saying the price disparity has been a disadvantage to independent marketers.
“The price disparity has been a disadvantage between us and the NNPC Retail and major marketers. So, we are trying to look at how to close that gap so that we come back fully into the business. The lack of direct supply has been our problem, and now that we are solving that problem, I don’t think that disparity will be there again,” he stressed. Fashola explained that the price differential is the reason for the queues in some filling stations in the cities.
“The queues you see are because of that difference in prices, that’s why people are saying there are queues. There are no queues; it is the price disparity that is causing the queues. So, if there is not much difference, we have filling stations everywhere; just drive in, buy fuel, and go. But that so much difference in the price is creating that scenario of queues,” he narrated.
Reacting to the directive that marketers can now buy petrol directly from local refineries, Fashola said the association would meet with Dangote this week.
“For now, we intend to meet with Dangote this week to see how we work out the modalities and all that. The Federal Government has given a directive and we want to take full advantage of that,” he posited.
The IPMAN vice president stressed that the association is not ignoring the NNPC either as it would patronise the best price.
“At the same time too, we are not ignoring NNPC. So, whichever way, we are ready to do business with NNPC. It depends on the price, we go for the best.
IPMAN disclosed on Thursday that the cost of fuel from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to NNPC was around N898/litre, but that NNPC was selling the same product to independent marketers in Lagos for N1,010/litre.
The group, which owns more than 70% of filling stations in the country, protested and threatened to shut down operations, as well as a return from the NNPC for previous petrol supply payments paid by its members.
Abubakar Maigandi, the IPMAN national president, said in a live television interview on Thursday that the price was greater than what the NNPC paid for the Dangote refinery product. He also noted that independent marketers’ funds had been held by the national oil company for about three months.
According to him, NNPC purchased the product from the refinery at N898/litre but is asking marketers to buy it at N1,010/litre in Lagos; N1,045 in Calabar; N1,050 in Port Harcourt; and N1,040 in Warri.
“Our major challenge now is that independent marketers have an outstanding debt from the NNPC and the company collected products through Dangote at a lower rate, which is not up to N900, but they are telling us now to buy this product from them at the price of N1,010/litre in Lagos; N1,045 in Calabar; N1,050 in Port-Harcourt; and N1,040 in Warri,” Maigandi stated.
