Oil marketers are eagerly awaiting the debut of petrol from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, but a pricing agreement between the refinery and petrol retailers has yet to be reached.
The Dangote refinery has delayed the supply of petrol until August, according to Sunday’s reports, which is a shift from the original July deadline.
The Dangote refinery will start producing petrol in August 2024, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President and CEO of Dangote Industries Limited, confirmed, highlighting the crucial role played by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Federal Government in resolving crude oil supply issues.
Commenting on the development, dealers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria stated that the shift in date for PMS supply from the refinery was not surprising.
They expressed readiness to lift products from the plant, but noted that the price of the commodity was not given yet by the refinery.
Responding to an enquiry by our correspondent on the matter, the President, IPMAN, Abubakar Maigandi, said, “Yes, July was announced before, but the new date is now August. We don’t have a problem with that. The most important thing is for the refinery to start rolling out PMS.
“Maybe they have a challenge and can’t meet the July target. However, we the oil marketers have already prepared ourselves and immediately he (Dangote) starts releasing the product we are going to load.”
On whether marketers had reached an agreement on the price of petrol from the refinery, the IPMAN president replied, “Up till now we are waiting for him to give us the price.
“But as I speak to you, there is no price for the PMS being produced by that refinery. So we are waiting. However, when he starts releasing the product, the price must come out. But up till now there is no price.”
The IPMAN president reiterated that independent oil marketers were ready to lift products, stressing that “we are just waiting for him to start. We have already informed all our members nationwide to start loading when he begins. We are ready to patronise him.”
Billy Gillis-Harry, PETROAN President, revealed that the shift from July to August was not a surprise to his group, which had already anticipated a possible delay.
“I said initially that the July date would not work considering the many processes involved. Also on whether August would be feasible, I’ll say that they have their system and they’ll decide that,” he stated.
The president of PETROAN stated that the refinery’s management is yet to disclose the pricing details for petrol, keeping the industry in suspense about the cost per litre.
“He has not discussed PMS pricing with us. But yesterday I was talking to a team from there and we hope to know the price in due course,” Gillis-Harry stated.
