Pump price ‘to reduce’ as Dangote sells petrol at N766/litre to NNPC

The Dangote Refinery is set to supply petrol to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited at an estimated rate of N766 per litre, PUNCH reported Sunday.

This development could potentially lead to a reduction in fuel pump prices, multiple sources within the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, NNPC, and major energy marketing firms have confirmed.

“What we are going to see based on the deal between NNPC and Dangote is similar to the DSDP (Direct Sale of crude oil and Direct Purchase of petroleum products) transactions that used to exist between NNPC and foreign refineries in the past.

“And this has really impacted positively on the price of petrol that Dangote is selling to NNPC, because the cost is around N766/litre. But I can’t tell how much NNPC is going to sell to marketers now,” a major marketer, who spoke to in confidence due to lack of authorisation to comment on the matter, stated.

Another senior aide to President Bola Tinubu, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the petrol would be sold at 766/litre.

Reacting to the Dangote fuel price, a senior Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) official said if marketers could get the product at N766, they would need to add the cost of transportation, levies, and other margins.

He said, “Give and take, we can sell at N790 in Lagos. In the far north, it may be N820 per litre because of the distance.”

On his part, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said his group was not aware of the price of fuel from the Dangote refinery.

“Well, it will be acceptable because now we are paying NNPC N870 for a litre, so if we see it at N766, it is cheaper and we will prefer to buy that.

“I cannot determine how much we will sell to Nigerians; we will work out the retail price. It is not one individual or one organisation’s prerogative to put a price, we will work it out and we will argue out our point.

“We are ready to support Dangote, but they are not talking to us. We are the people they need; I have over 6,000 retail outlets under my management, but Dangote is not talking to us”, he added.

Meanwhile, marketers have demanded direct access to petrol from the Dangote refinery, criticising the firm grip of the NNPC onthe market.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, said the market should be open for all in line with the willing-buyer and willing-seller commitment earlier made by the corporation.

The NNPCL had last Saturday said it was not the sole off-taker of products from the Dangote refinery, adding that the refinery was free to sell its petrol to any marketer.

But a week after the statement, the Federal Government announced that the company would be the sole buyer of petrol from the refinery.