The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has reportedly ended its exclusive agreement to buy petrol from Dangote Refinery.
The decision now opens the door for independent marketers to buy directly from the Dangote refinery and negotiate their own prices.
Premium Times reports that NNPC’s limited decision aligns with the current practices for fully deregulated products, where refineries can sell directly to marketers on a willing buyer, willing seller basis.
When Dangote Refinery kicked off petrol sales, Edwin Devakumar, the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, stated that NNPC Ltd would be the sole buyer.
The way it works is that NNPC Ltd purchases from Dangote Refinery and then resells it to marketers, a development that has created controversy, especially among the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
In recent reports, TimesNow.com.ng revealed that there are huge backlogs of petrol requests from marketers, forcing NNPC to shut its portal.
The marketers claim they are currently unable to apply for petrol through the system, leaving them waiting for over 90 million litres of petrol, valued at approximately N79 billion.
NNPC Ltd spokesperson Olufemi Soneye explained that the portal closure was necessary to avoid holding marketers’ capital for an extended period.
With NNPC’s decision to end its exclusive off-taker role, IPMAN members, which have over 150,000 stations across the country, can now approach Dangote Refinery directly.
In related developments, various petroleum marketers associations in Nigeria have raised concerns over petrol pricing from the Dangote refinery.
The NNPC has released petrol prices from the Dangote Refinery, ranging from N950 to N1,019 per litre in the north.
Marketers have urged the NNPC to review these prices, emphasizing that locally refined fuel should not be sold at a higher price than imported fuel.
Proofreading by James, Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at TimesNow.com.ng.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
