
• Petrol landing cost now N971/litre, says MEMAN
• NNPCL assures 12 CNG mother stations in Q1 2025
Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) has put the landing cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, at N971 per litre.
It said the estimated landing cost of petrol in the country dropped by 20.34 per cent to N971.57 per litre over the past three months.
Also, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) reached an agreement with Dangote Refinery for the direct lifting of PMS and other refined petroleum products.
IPMAN National President, Abubakar Maigandi, made this known, yesterday, following a meeting of the association’s National Working Committee (NWC) in Abuja.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has announced the settlement of its longstanding $2.4 billion cash call debt with International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the country.
Despite the reduction, the retail price of petrol increased by N443 (71.79 per cent) from N617 per litre on August 1, 2024, to N1,060 per litre by November 8, 2024.
Data released by MEMAN’s competency centre indicated that oil marketers imported petrol at N1,219 per litre, while the price of Brent crude stood at $80.72 per barrel at an exchange rate of N1,611 per dollar in August.
However, in November, with an estimated landing cost of N971.57, a Brent crude price benchmark of $75.57 per barrel and an exchange rate of N1,665.84 per dollar, the product sells at N1,060 at NNPCL retail stations and N1,180 at independent marketers’ outlets.
THE agreement between IPMAN and Dangote came weeks after President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, mentioned that NNPCL and marketers were sourcing petrol from international refineries, overlooking his facility, which he claimed had over 500 million litres of petrol in reserve, enough to meet domestic demand.
IPMAN had said as the highest off-taker of the product, if Dangote could allow independent marketers to lift the product directly from the refinery, there would be enough supply to cater for domestic demand.
The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, affirmed that it no longer owed any dues, a milestone achieved following the total removal of subsidy on PMS.
Kyari made this known at the 42nd Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) held in Lagos on the theme, ‘Resolving the Nigerian Energy Trilemma: Energy Security, Sustainable Growth and Affordability’.
The cash call debts are funding requests by NNPCL and its joint venture partners (Mobil, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies and Agip) to cover capital and operational expenses for oil projects.
Checks by The Guardian revealed that as of May 31, 2022, the total cash call debt was $4.68 billion, while NNPC cleared $3.81 billion, leaving a balance of $873.34 million. But as of 2023, the debt, according to the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), reached $2.4 billion.
Kyari revealed that the company could prioritise its core focus on the upstream sector, noting that the subsidy burden often forced the company to divert funds, leading to cash call defaults with joint venture partners.
While commending President Bola Tinubu on the total removal of subsidy on PMS, Kyari acknowledged that while the subsidy removal might cause temporary financial strain, it encourages more prudent energy use.
The GCEO also assured that by the first quarter of 2025, the country would have 12 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) mother stations.
“By Q1 of 2025, there will be at least 12 mother stations for CNG. We are also building a mini Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant that will deliver gas into the market, sustain the quality of CNG delivery and make gas available to mini power plants across the industry in the short term,” he said.
While debunking allegations that the company was sabotaging the Dangote refinery, he mentioned that NNPCL was a proud part-owner of the refinery, as it saw an opportunity for a clear market of at least 300,000 barrels.
He clarified that it is to NNPCL’s benefit to supply crude oil to the domestic refinery; hence, they don’t need to be persuaded or pressured to do that.
“We know that as time moves on, people will start struggling to find markets for their production. It is already happening. Oil is found in very many unexpected locations across the world and people have choices. Therefore, we saw an opportunity to log supply to the domestic refinery, not just Dangote, but any other refinery that operates in the country, so it is a very informed business decision,” he said.
On the request that Nigeria needs to domesticate its oil, he described Nigerian crude as Lamborghini crude, which is expected to be pricey.