NNPC lifts 70 trucks of petrol from Dangote refinery

As promised by the federal government, the first set of trucks yesterday lifted premium motor spirit (PMS) from the Dangote Refinery, ending decades of 100 per cent fuel importation into the country.

Over 300 trucks belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) arrived at the Dangote Refinery on Saturday and loading was carried out yesterday amidst rising expectations and excitement across the country.

However, there was controversy over the pricing as major marketers and independent marketers said they were in the dark over the price.

Currently, a litre of fuel is sold between N855 to N920 by the NNPCL and major marketers depending on locations across the country while independent marketers sell as much as N1,300 per litre in the hinterlands.

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Many Nigerians had anticipated a cheap price following the roll-out of petroleum from Dangote refinery.

However, the hope of many Nigerians was dashed yesterday as it was confirmed that NNPCL, the initial sole buyer of PMS from Dangote refinery, bought at N898 per litre, which is far above the current official price in NNPCL stations in Lagos.

Confirming this in response to enquiries by our correspondent, Chief Spokesperson of NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye also dismissed a media report (not Daily Trust) that the fuel was bought at N760 per litre.

NNPCL to receive 16.8m litres

He also confirmed that the company would receive 16.8m litres from the refinery while over 70 trucks had loaded as of yesterday.

He said, “We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote refinery today (yesterday). The claim that we purchased it at N760 per liter is incorrect. For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per liter. I can also confirm, in response to inquiries, that we will receive 16.8 million liters. So far, we have loaded over 70 trucks.”

No official correspondent on pricing – IPMAN

Speaking with our correspondent, the President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abubakar Maigandi in a chat with our correspondent stated that there was no official communication yet from either the NNPCL or Dangote on how much a litre of PMS would be sold from Dangote refinery.

“As of now NNPCL is the only off-taker and so we are waiting for them to hear the price they are going to give us.

“We don’t have the official price yet. Already, we are buying it at the rate of N895 and if we are getting it at a lower rate, the price will come down. We are expecting to hear from the NNPCL, which price they are going to quote before we also decide on our pump price,” he said.

Maigandi, however, said marketers anticipated a price reduction and looked forward to a day when marketers can directly approach Dangote.

“But we only think this is a welcome development as we are not solely depending on fuel importation,” he added.

Expect different prices – MEMAN

In a chat with our correspondent, Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), Clem Isong stated that the pricing deal is between Dangote and NNPCL, saying other marketers cannot approach Dangote to buy PMS in naira.

According to him, there would not be any significant reduction despite the rollout of PMS by the Dangote refinery.

He said, “NNPC is selling crude to Dangote in naira and Dangote will then take that crude and blend it. NNPCL will buy from Dangote in naira at the price that they have agreed. So it is a naira price.

“There are two things that will happen. You have two sources of petrol. The petrol that you are getting from the loading gantry of Dangote today, that volume, 25m litres per day will not satisfy Nigerians’ consumption. So NNPCL will continue to import. Because the price of crude is down right now, other people are trying to test the market to import. So when they import, what we would see are different prices. We would have the NNPC price and others will import and sell at whatever price depending on what they bought. So there would be different prices in the market depending on the people who are importing.”

Isong also clarified that marketers have been buying products from the Dangote refinery, confirming that 50 per cent of diesel in the market were from Dangote refinery.