Oil marketers question NNPC’s petrol pricing, says local fuel shouldn’t exceed imported prices

Oil marketers on Monday argued that it wasn’t normal for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to sell petrol produced locally from the Dangote refinery to Nigerians at a pump price higher than imported fuel.

Coming under the umbrella of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), the oil marketers stressed that it then means that there was no cause for celebration if imported products are cheaper.

“If NNPC can sell Dangote product higher than the imported product, it doesn’t make sense. What is the celebration we’re having all this while then?, ” IPMAN’s National Welfare Officer, John Kekeocha, said on Channels Television.

Recall on Sunday, NNPC began loading the first batch of petrol from the Dangote Refinery on Sunday, saying it got petrol at N898 per litre from the private refinery.

Early Monday, the national oil company released estimated prices of petrol obtained from the Dangote Refinery in its retail stations across the country, stressing that in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), petrol prices are not set by government, but negotiated directly between parties.

“The NNPC can confirm that it is paying Dangote Refinery in USD for September 2024 PMS offtake, as Naira transactions will only commence on October 1, 2024.

“The NNPC assures that if the quoted pricing is disputed, it will be grateful for any discount from the Dangote Refinery, which will be passed on 100 per cent to the general public,” it stated.

But Dangote Refinery denied selling petrol to the NNPC at N898. A spokesman for the refinery Anthony Chiejina in a statement on Sunday described the claim by the NNPC as “misleading and mischievous”.

“It should also be noted that we sold the products to NNPC in dollars with a lot of savings against what they are currently importing. With this action, there will be petrol in every local government area of the country regardless of their remote nature,” Chiejina said.

IPMAN executive explained that it was assumed that the product should be relatively cheaper because it is no longer being shipped in from abroad.

He argued that the fuel that NNPC is getting from Dangote cannot be costlier than the one imported, because it has the advantage of the removal of a huge part of supply logistics.

“The products we are about to get from Dangote refinery cannot be costlier than the one imported because we have an advantage of supply logistics,” he said.

“If the Dangote refinery’s petrol price is N950 per litre without government intervention, it means under-recovery gradually comes to an end and maybe, Nigerians would get it cheaper,” he added.