As Nigeria prepares for the September rollout, President Tinubu’s panel and Dangote Refinery hold strategic discussions on petrol pricing, focusing on stabilizing costs and ensuring market efficiency.
Several officials, consisting of oil marketers and Implementation Committee members for crude oil sales in naira led by Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, have verified that a series of meetings on this matter will be conducted throughout this week and beyond.
They further announced that the committee will establish a structure to set a standard for the Naira amount payable by Dangote Refinery for crude. Additionally, they stated that it would be up to the Federal Government to determine whether petrol subsidies from the plant should be provided or if Nigerians should purchase at market value.
Nonetheless, according to oil marketers’ announcements, the price of Dangote petrol is slated to exceed current pump prices for such a commodity. They emphasized that purchasing from the plant would become dauntingly challenging for dealers if governmental interference regarding pricing does not occur.
The cost of petrol varies between N600 and N700 per litre, depending on the location of purchase within Nigeria. Recent data from the Major Energies Marketers Association revealed that the landing price for PMS is reported to be N1,117/litre.
According to marketers, this represents the true market value of the commodity and they clarify that pricing for products from Dangote refinery should reflect approximately this amount.
Due to the inability of other marketers to access the required United States dollar for petrol imports, only the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is responsible for importing petrol into the country.
During the recent disclosure of NNPC’s audited report and accounts for the 2023 fiscal year in Abuja, Umar Ajiya – Chief Financial Officer of NNPC acknowledged that the oil company is burdened with a significant subsidy on petrol imports.
According to him, the NNPC has been supplying PMS for retail distribution at approximately half of its landing cost as per their agreement with the government.
He clarified that the deficit between the landing price and sales price had been managed via a reconciliation agreement with the government. Furthermore, he stated that no payment for petrol subsidy under any marketer’s name had occurred in approximately eight to nine years by the company.
Peoplesmind