NNPCL buys PMS at N900, sells to marketers at N1010 — IPMAN chair

The National President of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abubakar Garima, disclosed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is currently selling petroleum products to oil marketers at N1,010 per litre in Lagos State.

Garima pointed out that this price is considerably higher than the amount the NNPCL paid to purchase products from the Dangote Refinery, which ranged between N800 and N900.

He noted that while marketers are being asked to sell petrol at N1,010 per litre in Lagos, prices in other locations are set at N1,045 in Calabar, N1,050 in Port Harcourt, and N1,040 in Warri.

Garima made these statements during his appearance on ChannelsTV’s Sunrise Daily. He also recalled that on Wednesday, NNPC retail stations raised petrol prices to N1,030 per litre from N897 in Abuja, and in Lagos, the price increased to N998 from N868 per litre. This recent hike, the second in just one month, represents an increase of about 14.8 per cent or N133.

The new price adjustments indicate a staggering rise of over 430 per cent in petrol prices since the current administration took office on May 29. Despite expectations for lower fuel prices following the naira-for-crude sales initiative, Garima attributed the recent adjustments to the impacts of sector deregulation.

“We know now that we cannot call it an increase, but rather, we can call the removal of subsidy deregulation. Now, deregulation has started taking place fully,” he stated.

Garima expressed concern over the debt owed by the NNPCL to independent marketers, stressing that the company has been collecting products through Dangote at a lower rate while asking marketers to purchase them at a higher price. “But our major challenge now is that independent marketers have an outstanding debt from the NNPCL, 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 per litre in Lagos, N1,045 in Calabar, N1,050 in Port Harcourt, and N1,040 in Warri,” he explained.

Garima further elaborated on why marketers haven’t approached Dangote directly for products at a similar price. “We have a problem with that because we have booked products through the NNPCL, and suddenly, when they decided to increase the price, they are now asking us to add more money to buy above what Dangote is selling to them.”

He added, “We have informed them to return our money to our banks so that we can go directly to Dangote for our supply. Presently, our money is with them for about three months. We buy our products from them before loading. NNPC doesn’t sell on credit, and when products are available, they call us to pick them up.”

Garima indicated that they are negotiating with the NNPCL and stated, “With the recent changes, we have requested that they sell to us at the Dangote price or return our money. That’s the current situation and is the reason for the scarcity. We started negotiation yesterday.”

He said, “Dangote is selling to them around N800 to N900, and we are asking that it should be sold at that same price. We can decide to sell at a lower price of N1,020 or N1,010. We also refused to buy it because they bought it at a cheaper price from Dangote but wanted to sell it more expensive than the amount they currently sell at their stations. This is a great challenge because this will mean our price will be higher, and it also means they would have a profit of over N100 per litre.”

Garima concluded by stating that marketers aim to be fully engaged in the petrol business, highlighting that the NNPCL has primarily been responsible for importing and loading products.

He said, “We are now being allowed to import, and there is no challenge on that issue. What we are after is to get the product directly from Dangote and not through NNPCL. Currently, they are owing us up to N15 billion.”