Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, is presently fixed at a pump price of between N900 and N1,000 per litre at many filling stations run by independent oil marketers.
The owners of these stations don’t appear to give a damn about how much the product costs at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s retail locations. The cost of gasoline at NNPC stations is between N568 and N617 per litre. Queues at the stations result from this frequently.
The Federal Government has also promised to close filling stations that are found to be dispensing PMS at excessive prices, in response to Nigerians’ concerns on the high cost of the product by independent petrol dealers.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority made this announcement, emphasising that it was not in Nigerians’ best interests for marketers to make money off of the sale of PMS.
According to independent oil marketers, the high pump prices were caused by the fact that they have been purchasing petrol from private depot owners for up to N850 a litre since last week.
George Ene-Ita, the NMDPRA’s spokesperson, countered that the regulator receives varied reports on petrol prices from its employees at the depots.
Because we urge them to publicise the pricing at the depots every day and they are not N850/litre, our depot employees perceive a different price. We receive a different estimate from our field representatives at the depots’, he said.
Upon learning that independent merchants run filling stations in Lagos and numerous other states charge as much as N900 or N1,000 per litre for their goods, the NMDPRA representative threatened to prosecute the operators if they were found.
Since NNPC is the firm that brings in the goods and tells us how much they sell as their ex-depot rates to off-takers, all we do if we receive these outlets is try to shut them down. Ene-Ita stated, “And we sit down and work out the margins, and there is no way it should be that high.”
The NMDPRA official added that the agency was unable to justify the exorbitant price of petrol sold by independent retailers.
“Are the high prices on their pumps displayed at these stations?” Ene-Ita enquired.
The representative of the regulating body reaffirmed, “Once we get these outlets, we are going to shut them down,” in response to our correspondent’s affirmative response. The amount that NNPC sells is disclosed to us, and the pump prices are inexplicably excessive. Nothing more than N650 per litre is what we anticipate.
A representative for the NMDPRA cautioned profiteering marketers to stop their actions, emphasising that the organisation would not stand by and watch as operators defraude Nigerians.
According to research conducted by our correspondents, marketers are profiting more as the nation’s gasoline crisis persists.
The PUNCH reliably gathered that owners of filling stations have seized the opportunity to add to their margins as regulators could not enforce any particular price.
Due to the low supply from NNPC, private depot owners were said to have hiked the price of petrol as high as N850/litre
The depots sell to independent marketers, who could not get the product directly from the NNPC at about N570/litre like the major marketers.
In return, the independent marketers sell a litre of petrol to motorists and other Nigerians at prices ranging from N850 to N900 or even N1,000 in some remote areas.
“That is why no marketer is complaining of low margins again. This is the time for them to make money. The only issue is that getting the product is not that easy,” a source told The PUNCH.
“The price is high because the supply is low. It is a matter of demand and supply. The price will continue to be up, at least for now. It Is an opportunity for the filling stations to add to their margins. This is an abnormal situation. Normalcy is restored, and the regulatory authority can monitor. Can the regulator monitor anybody now?
“Imagine when you pay about N30m to NNPC to order petrol and it takes about one month to get the product. Assuming you take N30m from a bank with this interest rate, is that not a problem?’ a marketer stated.
Sources at the Lagos depot informed our correspondent anonymously that the NNPC is still rationing the product despite assurances that normalcy would be restored last Wednesday.
It was gathered on Monday that marketers could only get half of whatever metric tonnes they bid for.
A depot operator said though the situation had improved a bit, the supply is still far below what is required to ease off the queues and make the product available for all Nigerians.
Another source hinted that the Federal Government is now prioritising the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to reduce the long queues in filling stations.
“The queue is easing a little bit in Abuja. Almost 70 per cent of the trucks are going to Abuja. The directive is that they should go to Abuja,” the depot operator confided in The PUNCH.
Contrary to claims that the marketers might be hoarding fuel, the manager of a filling station in Ogun State, who identified himself simply as Adeyanju, said no one hoards fuel because it will continue to dry up.
“The way PMS is, if you put 33,000 litres in a tank, if you hoard it for too long, by the time you want to haulage it, it may not be more than 31,000 or 32,000 litres. It will be evaporating. No tank operator will ever hoard fuel, not even at this time when people are making money,” the manager disclosed.
He added that no miracle could clear off the queues in this new week, asking the NNPC to ramp up supply.
On Monday in Osogbo, Osun State, petrol was sold by filling stations owned by independent marketers at prices ranging from N900 to N1000 per litre.
However, the few major marketers that dispensed petrol, sold the product for N700 per litre.
Many filling stations within the metropolis did not open to customers, as commercial intra-city bus operators increased their charges by 50 per cent due to the high cost of fuel.
Petrol was priced between N980 and N1000 at stations owned by independent dealers in Damaturu and its surrounding areas.
The same scenario played out in parts of Lagos and Ogun states, where petrol went for as high as N950 and N1,000/litre at independent marketers’ stations.
Following the reluctance of many marketers in Kano State to open their filling stations despite having the commodity in stock, black markets continued to thrive.
A litre of PMS at filling stations owned by independent marketers still sold for N980 and N1000/litre in Kano.
Following this negative development, black marketers have fully returned to the business and are having a field day. PMS at the black market sells for N1200 and N1300.