Marketers seek upward review of petrol pump price

NNPCL stock down by 5.48m litres amid scarcity

Independent marketers of petroleum products have advocated the hike of the pump price of petrol from N169 per litre.

They argued that “catapulting” exchange rate has invalidated the current pricing template.

They  admitted  selling the  above the official pump price because they “buy it above the ex-depot rate from the private depots.”

The marketers lamented government’s inability to prevent smuggling and said that in neighbouring countries, a litre sells for as much as N500.

“The exchange rate is always catapulting. With the present situation, they have to modernise (review) the NNPCL(Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited) rate because the dollar has gone up,

“”The cost of dollar is going up every day. So,  it has become difficult to maintain the rate. We cannot sustain the pricing we are using. Even neighbouring countries where our petrol is smuggled to. are selling up to N500 per litre, “ Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) President  Debo Ahmed told The Nation in Abuja yesterday.

Ahmed also noted that the government was finding it difficult to remove the subsidy it pays on fuel because of its implications for the masses.

“You know that because of the masses,  the government has no option but to continue the payment of high price of subsidy,” he said.

He argued that since marketers buy petrol between N185 and  N190 per litre from private depots, it had become impossible for them to sell at the official rate.

Ahmed said that it is unfair for the  Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) that cannot to regulate the private depots to beam its searchlight on independent marketers.

His words: “The   NNPCL template is still but private depots use the template they like. Their prices are from N185 to N190 per litre.

“If they (government) cannot checkmate the private depots, there is no need for them to come and checkmate us that are buying from the private depots. NNPCL is the sole importer that is giving the product to the private depots.”

An independent marketer, Mike Osatuyi, said: “I buy petrol at N186.50k per litre from the depot and it costs me about N9.50k to get the same litre to the pump after paying levies.

“How do you want me to sell at N169 per litre when I have incurred additional costs?’

“No marketer can sell petrol at the regulated price of N169 per litre with the current realities when landing cost is N194 per litre.

“Those saddled with the responsibility of petroleum importation and pricing should be held responsible for the price disparities at the fuel stations.

“The current price of petrol does not reflect inflation, Foreign Exchange costs, union dues, and transportation.’’

Meanwhile,  the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) product stock declined marginally by 5,481,239 litres on  November 7, 2022,

It was 1,912725464 litres on  November 6.

The drop is contained in NMDPRA’s document titled: “Petroleum Products Stock  and Days Sufficiency Data 7th November 2022.”

NMDPRA which based its computation of average daily consumption on 60 million litres put the November 7 stock at 1,907,244,225 litres..

According to the agency’s document, marine stock at berth plus offshore was 1,199,676,226 litres while depot dead stock was 56,628,097 litres.

In spite of the available stock, there was no respite for motorists across the country, especially in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) as vehicular queues at filling stations that opened for business lengthened.