By Francesca Hangeior.
Oil marketers have assured that Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) prices will drop once they start directly lifting products from the Dangote Refinery.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is the sole entity lifting products from the refinery, which led to a significant surge in petrol prices.
Prices in Lagos have skyrocketed to ₦950 per litre, with consumers in northern areas paying up to ₦1,000 per litre.
The sharp increase has placed an additional strain on businesses and households already dealing with rising inflation.
However, in a move expected to provide relief to Nigerians facing soaring petrol prices, the Spokesperson for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Ukadike, yesterday, provided an optimistic outlook during an interview on National Television, monitored by The Nation.
He confirmed that discussions between marketers and the Dangote Refinery for direct product lifting are underway, and expressed confidence that prices will drop once these arrangements are finalised.
Ukadike emphasised the critical role independent marketers could play in stabilising petrol prices across the country.
“It is just very simple. It shows that the liberalisation of the market is on the course because there is no way Dangote refinery will be producing petrol in Nigeria without considering IPMAN as one of its strategic stakeholders,” he remarked.
Highlighting IPMAN’s extensive network of filling stations, which account for approximately 85 percent of the country’s distribution outlets, Ukadike suggested the involvement of independent marketers in product lifting from the refinery could resolve current pricing disparities.
He said: “We were even thinking that one of his first points of call was to discuss with IPMAN and not NNPCL because we can distribute every single drop of products produced by Dangote Refinery.”
He noted that competition and independence in sourcing products would drive down petrol prices, saying, “Immediately after we discuss and commence direct lifting of product from Dangote, the issue of pricing and differential in pricing will be gone. What we are seeing here is price disparity. But if IPMAN becomes independent, prices will drop.”
Drawing from the successful reduction in diesel (AGO) prices when independent marketers began sourcing directly from Dangote, Ukadike expressed optimism for a similar outcome with petrol.
“Dangote also opened up to IPMAN when he started producing AGO, diesel. We entered the market and started buying it, and prices of AGO came down from N1,600 to between N1,000 to N1,100,” he explained.
He concluded by calling for an inclusive market, noting, “This is a deregulated economy, and every stakeholder and player should be given equal opportunity.”