Members of the Independent Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) are to get supply from the direct the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), it was learnt yesterday.
Details of a major understanding between the oil giant and marketers came as stakeholders in petrol distribution chain stepped up efforts to end the lingering product shortage and soaring pump price.
It was observed yesterday an improvement in petrol supply with queues thinning out at filling stations, mostly owned by Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN).
The price hovered around the regulated price of N170 per litre at the MOMAN stations.
But the IPMAN outlets were still taking advantage of the situation to sell above the regulated price at between N230 and N300 per litre.
Many stakeholders confirmed yesterday that the NNPCL have agreed to new initiatives expected to break the supply glitches and close the gaps being exploited by hoarders to inflate prices.
Going forward, the independent marketers, being critical complement to the major marketers in breaking the festering scarcity, got assurance of direct supply of petrol from the NNPCL.
The moves came on the heels of a critical meeting between NNPCL, MOMAN, IPMAN, Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and the Department of State Services (DSS) amongst others.
IPMAN’s National Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of, Mike Osatuyi, confirmed that the NNPC have agreed to be selling petrol directly to IPMAN members at the regulated official price, rather than the crisis-fueling situation of routing products through third parties, who had been severally fingered as being behind inflated wholesale supply prices.
Osatuyi said direct sale of products to independent marketers “will bring down the price of the product”, noting that direct sale of products to independent marketers will lead to immediate reversal of retail prices to regulated retail price of about N170 per litre.
He said: “I can tell you that the NNPCL have agreed to be giving IPMAN petrol directly and not through a third party. This is what we have been clamouring for because IPMAN have been buying petrol for N220 from private depots in this period, whereas NNPCL was supply the product to depots at N113 per litre, while depots sell at N148.17 per litre and filling stations sell at the regulated price of N170 per litre.
“Instead of selling to IPMAN at the approved N148.17 per litre, as they used to do before, private depots were selling to us at N220 per litre, so how could we have sold to the public at N170 per litre? But with this agreement, the price of the product will definitely revert immediately NNPC fulfils their promise.”
He said recent parleys among stakeholders have started yielding fruits as there have been considerable improvements across many states.
Osatuyi said: “As you can see for yourself, queues are already disappearing in Abuja, Jos, Lagos and other parts. Those filling stations not dispensing as at today, have probably exhausted their stock and awaiting fresh supply. So, normalcy is returning.
“IPMAN awaits NNPC to stick to its promise while we will also let Nigerians know when they start to give us petrol at the official price and if they renege we will also let the public know.”
MOMAN’s Executive Secretary Clement Isong told our reporter that the major oil marketers had also agreed to improve their operational efficiency and coordinate better with NNPCL, which have started easing the challenges in the supply and distribution network.
“There is product but the challenge is getting the product from where it is into the tanks of Nigerians and that is what we are working on,” Isong said.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA)’s latest supply stock at the weekend showed there was 1.7 billion litres stock available, which could last about 29 days.
IPMAN President Alhaji Debo Ahmed however underscored the need for vigilance and effective monitoring of the supply situation by the regulatory authorities, noting that independent marketers were still facing constraints.
He said: “The depots don’t have the product that can go round. It is not sufficient,” Ahmed said, calling on the government and NNPCL to checkmate private depots that were selling petrol for as much as N220 per litre.
“NNPCL should try as much as possible to tell the private depots to sell at the controlled price.”
From monitoring the petrol market yesterday, The Nation discovered that there was increase in the supply of PMS at the retail outlets as there were virtually no queues projecting out of the stations.
The pump price was N180 per litre in the mainstream retail outlets except in very remote and mini stations that the product sold above pump price.
It was also learnt that black marketers that stocked petrol in plastic containers were lining up on different major roads hawking the product.
Despite dawning on them that the demand for their illicit trade had fallen drastically, they were not willing to reduce price.
A black-marketer on Kubwa expressway by Katampe, said: “I cannot sell my 10 litre of petrol below N2, 800.”
Asked why he was unwilling to let go of the product at the N170 per litre, he said: “I bought it above pump price at the petrol station on Thursday afternoon. I can’t sell at a loss.”
He further explained that the present disappearance of queues from the retail stations would not endure.
“This supply you are seeing is temporally. The queues will soon resurface,” he said.
