Dangote should tell retailers exact price of petrol from its refinery – PETROAN
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), has expressed disappointment over the refusal of Dangote Refinery to disclose the exact price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol from its company.
Expectations were high among Nigerians that the rollout of petrol from the Dangote Refinery would lead to a significant reduction in the price of the product, but many hopes appeared to have been dashed since the indigenous refiner started selling PMS in the country.
Initially, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) played the role of middleman buying from the company and selling to other retailers.
However, the national oil company has recently quit the middleman role, leading to another hike in petrol prices.
Commenting on the development on Channels Television’s breakfast programme The Morning Brief on Thursday, PETROAN president Billy Gillis-Harris challenged Dangote to open up the space of communication with retailers and other stakeholders.
“As I speak to you this morning I don’t know what the Dangote price is all about. At this point in Dangote’s campaign into Nigeria, retail outlet owners like us should be able to know this is how much Dangote is willing to sell to us and we have kept that shrouded in secrecy up until now,” Gillis-Harris stated.
Retailers challenge Dangote Refinery on transparency
The PETROAN president also said that though the NNPCL gave the body a price template, it declined to state the exact price of petrol from Dangote Refinery.
He, therefore, called on the indigenous refinery to be transparent in its dealings with Nigerians.
“NNPC came out and gave us a price template, that also did not tell us what is the exact price input from Dangote. So, we would encourage Dangote to open up a space of communication, talk with all the stakeholders, and get valuable inputs from everybody because it is a business that involves Nigerians, retail outlet owners like us, marketers and different consumers.
“So, there should be some level of business transparency even if it is a private business which we are so proud of that we have such facility operating in Nigeria, but we need to start to see the works,” he added.
Recall that the NNPCL on Wednesday hiked the fuel pump price from N897 per litre to N1,030 in Abuja; from N855 to N998 in Lagos; N1, 070 in North-East; N1,025 in other South-West states; N1,045 in South-East and N1,075 in South-South.
Reacting to the latest price regime, Gillis-Harris linked it to an increase in the “difficulty in landing products.”
“What I can tell you is, once there is difficulty in landing products by NNPCL and the size of shock absorbing that they (NNPCL) can do become overwhelming, they will certainly shed some of the loads,” he stated.
The PETROAN president concluded that the prices of the commodity will be determined by market forces.
