Aviation fuel: Airlines, marketers may settle for N500 per litre

At last, airline operators and the aviation fuel marketers may have agreed on a N500 per litre template for aviation fuel known as Jet A1, Daily Trust reports.

This came after five days of rigorous discussions between the two parties spearheaded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

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The scarcity and skyrocketing price of Jet A1 had disrupted flight operations for most parts of last week.

At a meeting with the House of Representatives last week, it was agreed that aviation fuel would be sold at N500 per litre as against the over N600 sold in some parts of the country while airline operators would also be licensed to import ATK (Aviation Turbine Kerosene).

However, a follow-up meeting coordinated by the Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage & Retailing Infrastructure of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Ogbugo Ukoha and the Group Executive Director, Downstream of NNPCL, Mr Adeyemi Adetunji, finally agreed on the new pricing template on Friday, it was learnt.

An airline operator who hinted at the development said after a rigorous exercise, both parties pegged the fuel at N500 per litre. The operator said the N500 template would be communicated to all parties soon.

An oil marketer also mentioned reaching a decision but failed to disclose the actual price, said the NMDPRA would communicate that to stakeholders.

He said, “We reached a decision and a communique was agreed after which NMDPRA is to write stakeholders something akin to guidelines on the adopted format of pricing. A letter is being expected from NMDPRA.”

The operator added, “We agreed not on a price but the mechanisms for determining the price, which include: 30 days plats average; forex blended in ratio 15:85 (CBN: black market); the marketers’ premium and the marketer’s margin.”

Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Capt. Abdullahi Mahmood had initially expressed hope that the discussion would be fruitful.

He said, “It is a work in progress; we have not come to a conclusion, we are yet to finalise everything. We are still working on it. They (fuel marketers) made a template, but we have not finalised on it.”

However, some airline operators say even at N500, it would be difficult for them to break even unless the government intervenes in the form of subsidy.

Another operator said, “The N500 agreed started two days ago and it’s for three days. But the discussion still continues to see if we can get something better.”