Nigerians await clarity as NNPCL quits as middleman in Dangote Refinery petrol purchase

NIGERIANS are still awaiting clarity on the decision of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to quit as middleman in Dangote Refinery petrol purchase.

If this decision is implemented means that NNPCL is ending its exclusive purchase agreement with Dangote Refinery.

With that, an analyst, Adeola Yusuf, said that NNPCL would no longer be covering the differential between Dangote’s selling price and the price to marketers.

He said: “Subsidies will cease to exist, while marketers will now buy directly from Dangote and sell at cost price.”

An Abuja-based online newspaper on Monday revealed the new purchase template and maintained that this is “opening up the market for other marketers to buy petrol directly from the refinery.

“This means NNPCL will no longer be the sole off-taker, and marketers can now negotiate prices directly with Dangote Refinery.”

Further implication of this is that petrol will now sell at a cost-reflective price.

The last pricing template released by the NNPC on September 15 showed that the product was selling in its outlets at N980 per litre in Lagos and N1010 per litre in Maiduguri and other northeastern states.

Petrol price per litre is even higher at outlets belonging to the major and independent marketers.

Efforts to get the spokesperson of NNPCL, Mr Femi Soneye, to respond to the issue proved abortive as he refused to reply the text message sent to him.

Also the spokesperson of Dangote Refinery, Anthony Chiejina, did not pick his calls.

When contacted, the Director-General, Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), Clement Isong, said the public should wait until they hear clearly from either the management of Dangote Refinery or that of the NNPC.

“There are many ways to serve Nigerian people. Let’s wait and see what they want to announce,” he said.

Meanwhile, it has been argued that the new development aligns with the current practices for fully deregulated products, where refineries can sell directly to marketers on a willing buyer-willing seller basis.

Earlier in September, Devakumar Edwin, vice-president at Dangote Industries Limited, said the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery has begun the processing of petrol.

Mr Edwin explained that NNPC Limited would buy its product exclusively.

But the NNPC, in reaction to a statement that the Dangote Refinery Limited is being undermined by actions of the company at the time, said it was not the sole off-taker of all products from the Dangote Refinery. It said the refinery was free to sell its petrol to any marketer.

Dayo Ayeyemi