According to news reports, the supply of petrol from Dangote Refinery to NNPC Limited yesterday as indicated the cost of purchasing the product will be much higher for Nigerians as NNPC released a new pricing template that raised pump prices by about 11 per cent to N950 per litre.
The pump price of petrol was increased by over 45 per cent two weeks ago, apparently in anticipation of the refinery’s output.
However, with ensuing disagreements between NNPC and Dangote Refinery over the price of the product, a statement by the chief corporate communications Officer of NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, clarified that Dangote petrol will not sell cheaper.
A document, titled “Estimated pump price based on Dangote Refinery September 2024 PMS supply”, showed that petrol from the refinery will have a base cost of N898 per litre.
Additional costs such as Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, charge of N4.495, Midstream and Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) charge of N4.495, distribution and logistics cost of N42.45 all added up to bring the effective pump price in Lagos area to N950.22 per litre from the current rate of N855 per litre.
NNPC also adjusted the price of the product across the country for its stations with Abuja now at N992.22 per litre from N897. The price for Kaduna, Kano and Sokoto has also increased to N992.22 while consumers in Borno area will pay the highest pump price at N1,019 per litre. Prices in Port Harcourt and Imo have been increased to N980.22 per litre.
NNPC insisted that it loaded the product at N898 per litre from Dangote and challenged anyone with contrary figures to make it public.
The company stated: “The NNPC Ltd also wishes to state that in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, PMS prices are not set by government, but negotiated directly between parties.
“The NNPC Ltd can confirm that it is paying Dangote Refinery in dollars for September 2024 PMS offtake, as Naira transactions will only commence on October 1st, 2024.
“The NNPC Ltd assures that if the quoted pricing is disputed, it will be grateful for any discount from the Dangote Refinery, which will be passed on 100% to the general public.
“Attached to this statement are the estimated pump prices of PMS (obtained from Dangote Refinery) across NNPC Retail stations in the country, based on September 2024 pricing.”
Moreover, in a report yesterday, the NNPCL has completed lifting of 16.8 million litres of petrol allocated to it. A source in the refinery said: “NNPCL has completed lifting the 16.8million allocated it. The product would be discharged into retail outlets, thus assisting to ease shortage in the country.”
Meanwhile, news reports also indicated that depot owners and oil and marketers have not started to take delivery of the product with a source saying, “We are still lifting imported petrol from NNPCL at N766 per litre. We don’t know what price the Dangote Refinery product will be sold to us. We look forward to discussing with the NNPCL.”
Also, an independent marketer, who pleaded to be anonymous, said: “We have not started selling Dangote Refinery petrol. In fact, we are not even sure of what the price would be. But I can confirm that we are still lifting imported product from depot owners at N875 per litre.”
Marketers say end users should expect Dangote fuel to sell at N1,200 per litre
NNPC selling at almost a thousand naira in Abuja, the Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association, IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, said consumers should expect to pay as much as N1,200 per litre in outlets operated by other marketers.
“You can expect the price to be significantly higher than what you have at NNPC stations. Depending on how much depot owners are getting from NNPC, price may rise to between N1, 200 and N1,300 per litre in most parts of the north.
“We don’t know yet how much NNPC will sell and for independent marketers, things will even get more difficult because we don’t have direct access to products from NNPC. We have to buy from those who bought from NNPC,” he stated.
He decried earlier that the continued closure of NNPC Retail portal meant they would not be able to get access to petrol supplied by the Dangote Refinery through NNPC Limited.
Ukadike explained that the group which owned the majority of petrol stations across the country had also not been informed by NNPC of how it would get supply.
“We are happy that Dangote’s supply has commenced and we have another source of petroleum product supply. We are also not against the policy of selling the product to NNPC. The independent marketers are saying we also want the refinery to deal directly with us. We have the highest number of filling stations and will be the best partners for the refinery.
“We have not heard anything from NNPC. We are still waiting for their portal to open, so we can make purchases because since the issue started, NNPC has not opened its portal.”
When contacted to know the price NNPC Limited will be supplying other marketers as the sole off-taker of petrol from Dangote Refinery, Mr Soneye said the company was in discussion with the marketers.
Similarly, IPMAN National Welfare Officer, John Kekeocha, stated: “If Dangote products becomes higher than the imported products, then it doesn’t make sense. What is esence of the celebration we have been having all this while?”
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Breakfast programme yesterday, he said the government should try to address all downstream problems and deliver petrol to consumers at an affordable rate.
Dangote Group grows increasingly silent
However, the group chief branding and communications officer of Dangote Refinery, Anthony Chiejina, did not respond to enquiries on the new facts yesterday.
But in his earlier statement Chiejine said Nigerians should “await a formal announcement on the pricing, by the Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales to local refineries, appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which will commence on October 1, 2024, bearing in mind that our current stock of crude was procured in dollars.”
