Nigerias oil and gas crisis took a fresh twist yesterday, when the Vice-President of ?angote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin accused local petroleum marketers of boycotting ?angote Refinerys petrol despite offering lower prices.
Recall that Edwin, speaking during an X space session organised by Nairametric on Thursday, said only 3% of local petroleum marketers were interested in buying its recently rolled-out petrol. He stressed that local marketers refused to purchase PMS from the 650,000 barrels per day Lagos-based refinery while having a preference for imported petrol. His claim struck Nigerians and stakeholders differently in the face of the countrys layers of challenges.
This comes barely weeks after the President of ?angote Group, Aliko ?angote officially announced the rollout of Petrol. Later, the company announced September 15, 2024 date for the lifting of PMS.
The announced ?angote Refinerys petrol comes at the time the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited (NNPCL), the countrys sole PMS importer adjusted its petrol price to N897 and N855 per litre, depending on the location. Consequently, other petrol outlets dependent on NNPCL increased their fuel pump prices to around N980 to over N1,000 per litre depending on the location.
About a 50 percent pump price hike had been a major headache for many Nigerians. To make matters worse, there is a petrol supply challenge with pockets of queues in major cities. As expected, transportation costs and other goods responded to the latest petrol price hike.
Meanwhile, the statement by Edwin yesterday that local marketers are boycotting ?angote Refinerys petrol with lower prices have raised concerns.
When contacted, yesterday the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association, Billy Gillis-Harry, President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, (IPMAN), Abubakar Maigandi and the Spokesperson of NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye revealed that local marketers cannot boycott ?angote Refinerys petrol as claimed.
On his part, Gillis-Harry said that local marketers dont even know the price of ?angote Refinerys petrol, let alone boycotting the product. According to him, ?angote Refinery should unveil the price of its PMS.
He noted that marketers are willing and able to patronise ?angote Refinerys petrol at a price that would be beneficial to both parties. “At least, we know what NNPCL is selling fuel, let us also know what ?angote Refinery will sell petrol. We dont know. We are anxious to know. We want to be able to patronize Dangote Refinery petrol, he stated.
When asked about the readiness of Marketers to buy ?angote Refinerys petrol, he said, We are willing to lift ?angote’s petrol. We dont want him to sell his product at a loss while we dont want terms of sales that will be strangulated.
On his part, Maigandi explained that IPMAN and its members did not receive any message from ?angote Refinery over its petrol until Wednesday, noting that marketers have yet to know the price of the firms petrol. According to him, there is no way marketers would boycott ?angote Refinery petrol with cheaper prices. He noted that marketers are ready to patronise ?angote Refinery provided that its petrol prices are not more than the prices they are getting from other places.
Maigandi said IPMAN held a meeting on Thursday to discuss a partnership request letter written by ?angote Refinery. He disclosed that IPMAN plans to meet with ?angote Refinery to marshal out how to implement the partnership.
Also, the Spokesperson of NNPCL, Soneye said he doesnt believe anyone will boycott PMS with lower prices. He further stated that NNPCL is currently negotiating prices with ?angote Refinery ahead of the companys announcement that petrol will be available by tomorrow, Sunday, September 15.
