Some fueling stations now selling petrol cheaper than NNPC

Amidst the Wednesday’s upward review in petrol pump price, some filling stations in the nation’s capital, Abuja, are currently selling petrol cheaper than those of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), signaling a shift in the country’s fuel market dynamics.

Earlier on Wednesday, PREMIUM TIMES reported that petrol pump prices rose to N998 and N1,030 per litre at various outlets of the NNPC Ltd in Lagos and Abuja, respectively.

That development followed NNPC’s decision to terminate its exclusive purchase agreement with Dangote Refinery.

PREMIUM TIMES correspondents who visited petrol stations in Abuja on Thursday morning observed that some marketers sold petrol at prices lower than NNPC’s.

As of 8.38 a.m. NIPCO fueling station at Ahmadu Bello Way by Banex junction sold the product for N1,025 per litre. Mobil filling stations located at Ahmadu Bello Way, Mabushi, and Obafemi Awolowo Way, Utako, also sold at N1,025 per litre.

NIPCO and Mobil fuel stations, both located along Airport road, also sold the product at N1,025 per litre.

Prices differ

However, Total Energies, located at Sultan Abubakar Way, Zone 3, sold the product for N1,080. Eterna filling station at Obafemi Awolowo Way, Utako, sold at N1,120. Shafa filling station, located along Airport road Lugbe, sold at N1,050.

At DanMarna fueling station, also in Lugbe, Abuja, this newspaper observed that petrol was sold for N1,100 on Wednesday morning.

Background

The NNPC had claimed in September that it was buying petrol from Dangote Refinery at N898.78 per litre and selling to marketers at N765.99 per litre, shouldering a subsidy of almost N133 per litre. However, the company said this arrangement is no longer sustainable.

The NNPC lifted about 103 million litres of petrol from Dangote Refinery between September 15 and 30. The refinery was able to load 2,207 of the 3,621 trucks sent to it within the period under review.

The vehicles carried just 102,973,025 litres of the planned 400,000,000 litres of petrol earmarked to be lifted from the refinery at 25 million litres per day. That translated to just 26 per cent performance, records seen by PREMIUM TIMES show.

With the NNPC ending its exclusive purchase agreement with the Dangote Refinery, the company will no longer be the sole off-taker, and marketers can now negotiate prices directly with the refinery.

However, on Wednesday, the National Public Relations Officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Ukadike, told PREMIUM TIMES that the association’s members had yet to start loading petrol from Dangote Refinery.

“We have not started off-taking from Dangote. But now that the NNPC has said they are no longer the sole off-taker, we will continue our discussion with Dangote.

“Our discussion with Dangote will also reaching the concluding stage by the end of this week; independent marketers will come out with the price Dangote is giving to us. We are still loading from NNPC. We are waiting for Dangote to come out with their price and that will also allow us, the independent marketers, to effect our price,” Mr Ukadike said.