The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has denied lifting Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, from the Port Harcourt Refinery, stating that the association only received diesel and kerosene during the refinery’s test-run phase.

Speaking on ARISE News on Tuesday, PETROAN President, Billy Gillis-Harry, clarified widespread reports linking the association to petrol distribution from the recently reactivated Port Harcourt Refinery.

According to him, PETROAN’s role was limited to lifting Automotive Gas Oil (AGO – diesel) and Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK – kerosene), while all petrol allocations were handled solely by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).

“For the products we lifted from NNPC, particularly from the Port Harcourt Refinery, they were mostly DPK and AGO,” he said. “PMS was never commercially given to us. The NNPC moved PMS using its trucks to its stations.”

He further stressed that PETROAN did not receive commercial volumes of petrol directly from NNPC depots and only purchased petrol from regular NNPC retail outlets like ordinary motorists. “We did not pick PMS from the depot for our members. We bought at NNPC stations like anyone else,” Gillis-Harry explained.

This clarification comes amid growing scrutiny over fuel pricing, distribution fairness, and the role of local marketers in the post-subsidy era. Responding to accusations of price manipulation and corruption, Gillis-Harry dismissed such claims as untrue and unsupported by any verifiable data.

He maintained that PETROAN remains a patriotic organisation committed to supporting in-country refining and transparent petroleum distribution. “We have engineers among us. We’ve visited refineries, asked tough questions, and documented our observations. We do not act blindly,” he said.

Gillis-Harry also underscored that pricing concerns should be addressed within the framework of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), particularly Section 207, which regulates pump pricing. He called for regulatory fairness and urged government institutions to ensure that no single operator, including the Dangote Refinery, assumes the role of a regulator.

“As far as pricing is concerned, PETROAN stands for lawful and equitable structures. We must follow due process and reflect realistic costs from depots to retail pumps,” he said.

Gillis-Harry concluded by reaffirming PETROAN’s dedication to advocating for affordability and access to petroleum products across all regions of Nigeria, especially remote communities where transportation and security costs continue to affect retail pricing.