Fuel scarcity, price hike: Marketers plan importation as NNPCL, Dangote’s talks linger
In the wake of the current fuel scarcity and outrageous price hike of the product as well as the lingering talks between the NNPCL and Dangote Refinery on the unveiling of its (Dangote Refinery) fuel to the Nigerian markets, marketers are planning the importation of Premium Motor Spirit aka petrol.
This is against the backdrop of the recent declaration by the NNPCL that it would only fully offtake the product from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery if the market prices of the commodity are higher than the pump prices in Nigeria.
The NNPC also declared that Dangote and other domestic refineries were free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer and willing seller basis.
The company added that it had no intention to become the distributor for any entity in a free market environment.
The NNPCL’s stand, is however, contrary to what the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said last week that the refinery was awaiting the NNPCL to actualise its earlier decision that it would be the only off-taker of its petrol at the local level.
Following the lingering discussions between Dangote and NNPC, oil marketers have said that they would only source the product from wherever they found it cheaper, which could be through importation.
While commenting on the price of Dangote Refinery petrol, the National Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mustapha Zarma, said: “We have not contacted Dangote for now, but we may contact the refinery’s sales department this week to find out the price.
“If the price is competitive enough for one to buy and get one’s return on investment and the required margin, then we wouldn’t mind purchasing directly from him to complement what NNPC is bringing in or what NNPC would buy from Dangote.”
He noted that since the Federal Government and NNPCL had said that Dangote Refinery would sell its product at the market price, it implied that the government would not intervene in the pricing of the commodity from the plant through subsidy.
On this note, Zarma also noted that other dealers now had the opportunity to source the product from any producer at a cheaper price, whether locally or internationally.
He added that some oil marketers currently import diesel, while others buy the product from Dangote.
He, therefore, said that a similar situation would play out in the purchase of petrol, going by NNPC’s recent position on Dangote petrol.
“I believe that we are going to analyse the price of Dangote petrol and see the advantages of buying from Dangote viz-a-viz importation. Whichever we feel is cheaper will automatically attract everybody, especially if importation is cheaper.
“That will bring about competition and I don’t think the government will allow price monopoly. They would want a competitive market where the laws of demand and supply would determine the local price of refined petroleum products, just like diesel is right now.
“And with that, there is going to be some kind of equilibrium in the pricing and there is going to be guaranteed sustainability of supply,” the IPMAN official stated.
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