THE Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has observed that the full deregulation of petrol pricing, along with the withdrawal of NNPC Limited as the sole off-taker of petrol from the Dangote Refinery, means that marketers are now free to source products from various suppliers, including through imports.
This is even as an expert said the NNPCL does not deal with associations, including IPMAN but with companies that applied and paid for their petroleum products.
The IPMAN position came a day after the NNPC increased the pump price of petrol by 15 percent to N998 per liter in Lagos and N1,030 per litre in Abuja.
Speaking to Vanguard, the Public Relations Officer, IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, said marketers would source their products from wherever they feel is cheaper and make them (IPMAN) competitive.
Ukadike pointed out that the current business environment in terms of petrol pricing is shrouded in secrecy with marketers not adequately informed about decisions before they were taken.
“The happening has been shrouded in secrecy but with time everything will come out because full deregulation has come into play. Marketers can now import and so let’s see what they will do. Then we will know whether we will go with Dangote or elsewhere where the price is better”, he stated.
Earlier in the day, IPMAN President, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi Shettima, demanded a refund of N15 billion from NNPC Limited for petrol orders placed by independent marketers but were not supplied.
Shettima who made the demand in an interview with Channels TV stated that if NNPC’s current pricing is higher than that of Dangote Refinery, the national oil company must refund the payments made by independent marketers.
He criticized the NNPC for requesting additional payments from marketers despite not supplying the product for which they had already paid.
However, an expert that preferred to be anonymous faulted the oil marketers, stating that the NNPCL does not do business with oil marketers, including IPMAN.
He said: “NNPCL does not have a business relationship with IPMAN because the association did not fill a form and paid to lift petrol from the company. Rather, the NNPCL is dealing with many companies.
