Petroleum marketers in Nigeria are expressing concerns over the uncertainty surrounding the pricing of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the Dangote Refinery, following the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) release of petrol prices across the country on Monday.
They are demanding clarity from the Dangote Refinery on the exact price at which it sells petrol to the NNPCL to ensure transparency.
The President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, and the President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abubakar Maigandi, emphasized the need for disclosure of the refinery’s pricing structure.
This is critical as Nigeria’s domestic production alone, standing at 25 million liters per day from the Dangote Refinery, is insufficient to meet the country’s daily consumption of 50 million liters, according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
The NNPCL had announced that petrol prices at its retail outlets would range from ₦950.22 per liter in Lagos to as high as ₦1,019.22 per liter in Borno State.
However, independent marketers have not yet been informed of the price at which NNPCL will sell the product to them.
Typically, petrol prices at independent marketers’ stations exceed NNPCL’s prices by over ₦100 per liter, leading to speculation that prices may soon reach ₦1,200 per liter.
Gillis-Harry urged Dangote Refinery to disclose its pricing to marketers to avoid confusion, stating that the current lack of transparency leaves marketers “standing in limbo.”
Meanwhile, Maigandi voiced frustration over the conflicting pricing information between NNPCL and the Dangote Refinery, stressing that marketers are waiting for NNPCL to release the rates applicable to them.
Both marketers’ associations also noted that Nigeria cannot solely rely on domestic production to meet demand and that importation of petroleum products will still be necessary to cover the shortfall.
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