The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, PETROAN and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN have suggested how the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS can be reduced as prices race towards N1,400 per litre.
The national presidents of PETROAN and IPMAN, Billy Gillis-Harry and Abubakar Maigandi, in separate interviews with DAILY POST on Tuesday, said federal government intervention and a clampdown on anti-competitive petrol pricing were necessary solutions to reduce rising fuel prices.
DAILY POST reports that fuel pump prices increased by between N40 and N100 per litre in the last two weeks.
The latest upward adjustment in fuel prices comes as the majority of filling stations, including Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL and MRS, raised their petrol prices to between N1,310 and N1,345 per litre in Abuja and its environs.
The increase in retail prices followed significant increases in petrol gantry and ex-depot prices by Dangote Refinery and depot owners.
DAILY POST reports that while the 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery sells petrol at a gantry price of N1,265 per litre, depot owners, including MRS, Optima, Pinnacle, Soroman and others, sell at ex-depot prices of between N1,267 and N1,285 per litre, according to Petroleumprice.ng.
Crude oil price surges to $95 per barrel
Checks by DAILY POST showed that Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate rose to $95 and $80 per barrel, respectively, as exchanges of air strikes between the United States and Iran escalated on Tuesday.
Blame petrol suppliers for fuel price hike – PETROAN
Reacting, Gillis-Harry said the reality is that the amount of petroleum products retailers buy from suppliers has a direct impact on their prices.
“The reality is that once we buy petroleum products at a certain price from the source of supply, it will affect the prices at the retail outlets. So, regardless of the crude oil price coming down, if we are buying, we will not buy products at N1,500 and sell at N1,499 per litre.
“If we buy N1,500, we must still try to make minimal markup to be able to pay for the cost of finance, cost of services, cost of logistics, cost of overhead and all of that. So, it is not the doing of the retail outlets. Petroleum members are only going to be selling exactly how they buy.
“So, we don’t buy products and then come and put prices that are not realistic. Our prices are always realistic because we are following a process that gives the Nigerian market or the Nigerian person the opportunity to be better served by petroleum. So, thats the issue.
“It is not from petroleum retailers. The issue is from the supplier,” he said.
NMDPRA, FCCPC must work against anti-competitive fuel pricing – PETROAN
According to him, as a solution to the fuel price hike, Nigeria’s regulators, including the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, must work to clamp down on anti-competitive petrol pricing.
“Well, the Federal Government’s solution should be always, even though the sector is deregulated, there should be a consistent review of fair market pricing, competitive pricing, market-driven prices, everything, the inputs of production and then the outputs, which is what we buy and then sell.
“So, the government should pay attention to what the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority is doing. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission should rise to the occasion and ensure that every part of the business is doing well, because we are in a business that impacts everything in our lives, just like transportation.
“So, the other thing also, we also need to appeal to the government to ensure that transporters are also following through with the dynamics of how the prices fluctuate. When prices come down, their prices should come down. They shouldn’t keep one price perpetually.
“When the price is high, they don’t ever bring it down. So, I think what the government needs to do is keep a persistent and constant check on the activities of the refiner, of the depot, of the logistics, of the middlemen. That’s what’s needed,” he told DAILY POST.
Reason for fuel price hike in Nigeria – Maigandi
The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, said the major reason for the latest fuel price hike is the escalating conflict between the United States and Iran.
“The fuel will sometimes go up and down due to the conflict in Iran and the United States,” he told DAILY POST.
FG should provide intervention to Dangote Refinery to reduce fuel price – IPMAN
He appealed to the Federal Government to broker a deal with Dangote Refinery through intervention to reduce fuel pump prices nationwide.
“We’re appealing to the Federal Government to broker a deal with Dangote Refinery to reduce fuel prices.
“The government should intervene with Nigerian refiners, and this will lead to a reduction in fuel prices. It is different from fuel subsidy. In a situation where there is difficulty, the government should step in.”
PETROAN, IPMAN reveal two solutions to reduce fuel prices in Nigeria