Oil marketers blame NNPCL over cost of Dangote’s petrol

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL),  saying it doesn’t make sense for it to sell petrol lifted from the Dangote Refinery higher than imported ones.

John Kekeocha, IPMAN National Welfare Officer, on Monday, said, “If NNPC can sell Dangote products higher than the imported products then it doesn’t make sense. What is the celebration we are having all these while then?”.

The NNPCL 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.

Meanwhile, before lifting petrol from the Dangote Refinery on Sunday, NNPCL retail outlets in Lagos sell petrol for around N855 but said a litre of Dangote petrol now sell for N950 per litre in Lagos and N1,019 in Borno.

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

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“It should also be noted that we sold the products to NNPCL 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.

NNPCL insisted that it got petrol from Dangote Refinery at N898 per litre and challenged the latter to release the price it sold petrol. The NNPCL further released a breakdown of pricing it sell Dangote petrol at its filling stations across the country.

The Dangote refinery has begun the supply of diesel and aviation fuel to marketers in the country and now petrol.