‘It’ll reduce petrol price’ — IPMAN to buy PMS from Dangote refinery at N990/litre

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) says the Dangote Petroleum Refinery will sell premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, at N940 per litre and N990 per litre to its members, when purchased using ships and trucks, respectively.

Abubakar Garima, national president of IPMAN, in an interview with Channels Television on November 11, said the refinery agreed to supply petrol to IPMAN members at the rates.

According to the IPMAN president, over 30,000 of its members are prepared to buy petrol in bulk from the refinery.

“Presently, we have been given two different arrangments on how to buy fuel from the refinery. There is the one that we can load the vessels and carry to our various depots at the rate of N940 per litre. Then for the depots, it is at the rate of N990 per litre,” he said.

“The difference is because we have to load it and carry it to another part of the state. We use vessels to carry these products and there is another one to load from the gantry.

“For Port Harcourt, Warri, Calabar, we have to use vessels because there is no Dangote loading gantry there, we have to carry it to our private depot and discharge and distribute it to our members.”

‘PETROL PRICE MAY REDUCE BY N50 DUE TO ARRANGEMENT’ 

Garima said the collaboration between its members and the Dangote refinery would be beneficial to the country. 

“We have the overall market in the country. We go everywhere in the country. The implication goes beyond the issue of price, but still, price is the main target,” he said.

“The masses are looking for how we, Independent Petroleum Marketers, can reduce price for them. So the price too will reduce because we are not buying through the third party.

“So the profit that we have been giving to the third party like NNPC and depot owners will be reduced. That is the issue.” 

The IPMAN president projected that the petrol price may be reduced by N50 or more.

“For instance, the current price in Maiduguri now is N1,200 per litre. So with these current changes, it may likely reduce to N1,150, which there is a reduction of N50. So that’s N1,150. It may even be below that,” he said.

“And as we continue, you know, this thing, since it’s deregulation. Yes. As we continue. It can go down. It can go down continuously because, provided that the product is available, you may find that the market will come a little bit low, and then the naira will start appreciating.

“And then if the crude oil price is reduced, automatically, the same thing will be reduced.” 

Garima said the arrangement would also help end petrol scarcity due to the increased availability of the product. 

“Again, the availability is also there. If a marketer pays for a product before, these retailers hold our money before supplying us with fuel. That’s the reason why you may find sometimes these filling stations don’t have fuel,” he said.

“But now, since we are getting the product directly from the Dangote refinery, the issue of delay is eliminated. Immediately, we get the product, we discharge to our filling stations.” 

On October 29, Aliko Dangote, founder of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), said the refinery currently holds over 500 million litres of petrol, but oil marketers are not buying the product.

In a counter-response, the IPMAN said its members had been unable to load petrol from the Dangote refinery for days.

Garima had said the association paid N40 billion to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, but still cannot source the product – but the refinery said it has not received any payment from the IPMAN for refined petroleum products.

Fueling the controversy, Yakubu Suleiman, national assistant secretary of IPMAN, in an interview on Arise Television on November 1, said it is more expensive to buy petrol from the Dangote refinery than other places.

Suleiman said members go for more affordable options at other depots across Nigeria than the high logistical costs associated with buying PMS from the Dangote refinery.

However, Dangote refinery said its ex-depot price of petrol was set at N990 per litre for sale into trucks, and N960 for ships, adding that any oil marketer that sells petrol cheaper than the price it offers is importing substandard products.

But marketers rejected the claim, saying that they never sold substandard products.

On Monday, IPMAN said an agreement had been made with Dangote refinery to lift petrol, and diesel directly.