The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has called for petrol purchased from the Dangote refinery to be priced lower than imported products, citing logistical advantages.
John Kekeocha, IPMAN’s national welfare officer, made this assertion on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief’ on Monday. His comments come after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited released an estimated pump price of petrol, based on Dangote refinery prices.
Kekeocha questioned the NNPC’s figures, describing them as “speculative” and subject to change.
“The products we are about to get from Dangote refinery cannot be costlier than the one imported because we have an advantage of supply logistics,” he stated. “If the one we are going to import from abroad is going to be cheaper, then there is no need celebrating Dangote refinery production. Absolutely, it is going to be cheaper than the imported one.”
He also highlighted the government’s role in intervening through subsidies, also known as underrecovery. According to him, if the refinery’s petrol is priced at N950 per litre without government intervention, “it means underrecovery gradually comes to an end and maybe, Nigerians would get it cheaper.”
Kekeocha added that the NNPC’s price could still be discounted if the subsidy remains in place.
On September 15, the NNPC began lifting petrol from the Dangote refinery’s gantry after prolonged price negotiations. The move followed the deployment of NNPC’s trucks to the refinery on September 14.
At the end of loading on Sunday, the NNPC announced it had purchased petrol from Dangote refinery at N898 per litre. However, the Dangote refinery quickly refuted the claim, labeling it as “both misleading and mischievous.”
